Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1

Van Halen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 1996)
• Original Release Date: October 22, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002NAA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists > Guitar Gods
  • #17 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Hard Rock
  • #38 in Music > Classic Rock > Arena Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It took over 20 years for Van Halen to release a Best of album, and even then, the band downplayed the effort. Instead sticking to the original plan of releasing a two-disc set--one of material with original frontman David Lee Roth, and the other with his 11-year replacement Sammy Hagar--the band opted for a single CD chronicling their entire career. For the previously uninitiated, it's a golden introduction to a band that changed the face of '80s hard rock. Guitar-blazing old tracks like "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," and "Dance the Night Away" segue into more commercial numbers like "Jump" and "Panama" from 1984. These in turn, set the stage for Hagar's slicker, more polished vocals on "Right Now" and "How Do I Know When It's Love." But while newcomers will be thrilled with the delights within, old fans will probably find little of use, since the two highly touted new tracks with Roth are pretty disposable. --Jon Wiederhorn

Product Description

17 thundering tracks from both the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar years, with two new songs featuring Dave on vocals! Includes Jump; Why Can't This Be Love; When It's Love; Running with the Devil; Dance the Night Away; Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love; Panama; And the Cradle Will Rock; Dreams , and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 71 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing a lot of songs, but.................. March 25, 2005

By Some Gravity VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

A pretty good greatest hits compilation. Read on for my review of this:

Pros:

Except for the live album "Live: Right Here, Right Now" and "Fair Warning" (1983) this album contains material from all of Van Halen's studio albums from 1978 up until 1995: their self-titled 1978 debut album, their self-titled 1979 sophomore album, "Women and Children First" (1980), "Diver Down" (1981), "1984" (no need to say what year this album was released, but I will say that this was Van Halen's last album with David Lee Roth), "5150" (1986, their first album with Sammy Hagar), "OU812" (1988), "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (1991), and "Balance" (1995, their last album with Sammy Hagar). What this all means is that this greatest hits CD will not only serve good for all Van Halen fans, but also for someone who is either new to Van Halen or is on a tight budget and can't afford the individual albums.

Before Sammy Hagar left Van Halen in 1996, he wrote one more song with Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Michael Anthony. That song was "Humans Being", which was written and recorded for the hit film "Twister", and also appeared in the movie and the soundtrack for the film. That song is to be found on this album, so any die hard VH fans who hear about the song won't have to locate a copy of the soundtrack or buy/rent the movie itself and then be sitting through half of the movie, thinking "When will that Van Halen song appear"?

1996 also happened to be the year Van Halen did a one time reunion with David Lee Roth, writing and recording the songs "Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "Me Wise Magic". Those songs have also been included on this album, which makes this album not only a Van Halen collector's item, but also somewhat of a VH souvenir.

While a good amount of recognition is given to both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar on this album, more recognition is given to Roth, considering the fact that this album has ten Roth songs and eight Hagar songs. Some Hagar fans might not be too crazy about this, but it makes up for the fact that Van Halen has never released any songs that were recorded live with Roth and that there were only three Roth videos on Van Halen's "Video Hits Volume One" DVD.

Cons:

While this album has several Van Halen hits, such as "Runnin' With The Devil", "Dance The Night Away","When It's Love", "Right Now", etc,it is also missing several hits from both the Roth and Hagar years, such as "Hot For Teacher", "I'll Wait", "Finish What Ya Started", "The Best of Both Worlds", among others.

I'm sorry I forgot to mention this already, but there are too many VH/Sammy Hagar love songs on here! Sure, Van Halen had some great ballads when they had Sammy Hagar, but there are too many of them on here, and counting "Right Now" as not a love song but a ballad, the only VH/Red Rocker tunes on here that are not ballads/love songs are "Poundcake" and "Humans Being".

Overall:

Overall this album has some great Van Halen music on it,but I recommend shelling your cash out and either getting Van Halen's Roth/Hagar era albums seperately and/or getting the Van Halen anthology album "The Best of Both Worlds". This compilation is just too uneven--if you can't get the rare Hagar track and the rare Roth tracks that I mentioned and don't have access to downloading them,then buy this CD,but otherwise,this compilation is just too uneven to be worth both the time and the money.

27 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good compilation, but... November 20, 2002

By Edward Morales

Format:Audio CD

...not a fitting one for a band of Van Halens' status. (Oh, and by the way, Eddie, Alex, Mike, Sam and Dave need to squash those collosal egos of theirs and do a full-on reunion - with both lead singers!) Anyway they need a better compilation than this.
Here's what should have been:

CD 1
1. Eruption
2. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
3. You Really Got Me
4. Runnin' With The Devil
5. Jamie's Cryin'
6. I'm The One
7. Dance The Night Away
8. Beautiful Girls
9. Light Up The Sky
10. ...And The Cradle Will Rock
11. Everybody Wants Some
12. Take Your Whiskey Home
13. Mean Street
14. Unchained
15. Intruder/(Oh) Pretty Woman
16. 1984
17. Jump
18. Panama
19. Hot For Teacher
20. I'll Wait
21. House Of Pain

CD 2
1. Why Can't This Be Love
2. Dreams
3. Best Of Both Worlds
4. Love Walks In
5. When It's Love
6. Feels So Good
7. Finish What Ya Started
8. Cabo Wabo
9. Poundcake
10. Right Now
11. Top Of The World
12. Can't Stop Lovin' You
13. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
14. The Seventh Seal
15. Humans Being
16. Me Wise Magic
17. Without You

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Collection of Hits June 14, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

From "Runnin' with the Devil" to "Me Wise Magic", Van Halen has rocked on for two decades. From their beginning to the mid-80's, Diamond David Lee Roth led Van Halen with a barrage of fun, exciting party music that absolutely rocks, such as "Panama" and "Jump". What disappoints me most is how little credit Sammy Hagar got when he took over lead vocals in 1984. I feel Van Halen did its best work when Hagar was in control. Their melody was awesome, and the lyrics weren't just about sex and women. "Dreams" and "When It's Love" are terrific, melodic rock songs that I really enjoy listening to. Hagar's vocals were much better than Roth's, with much more range and power. Nevertheless, I am huge fan of both Roth's Van Halen and Hagar's Van Halen. Unfortunately, they went down the crapper with their latest album, which featured neither of these vocalists.