Van Halen Reveal Album Art, Release Date on New Year's Eve Times Square Billboard

5:30 AM PST 1/2/2012 by Shirley Halperin

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The iconic rock band, newly signed to Interscope Records, took advantage of a global viewing audience of one billion to debut the cover to their forthcoming release.

The first public reveal of Van Halen's highly anticipated new album took place in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve.

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Artwork for the forthcoming release was projected on a giant LED billboard above the McDonald's at 46th St. and 7th Ave. and could clearly be seen at various points throughout the night, as several networks, including CNN, ABC and NBC, were broadcasting live. It was especially visible during Justin Bieber's performance of the Beatles' "Let It Be" on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve (see video below).

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The cover image, a photo-illustration of a train from the New York Central System, one of the largest railroads in U.S. history which operated in the northeast during the 1800s, was potentially viewed by more than a billion people, when youyou factor in the global TV audience in addition to the one million people who gathered in midtown Manhattan to ring in 2012.

The album, Van Halen's first since 1984 to feature original singer David Lee Roth, is due out on February 7, 2012 with a single and video slated to premiere on Jan. 10, the same day tickets go on sale for the band's world tour.

In November, Van Halen signed with Interscope Records after four decades at Warner Bros.

On the day after Christmas, the band posted video footage of a recent rehearsal at Los Angeles club The Roxy.