The Best of Both Worlds [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Van Halen

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 2004)
• Original Release Date: July 20, 2004
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B000286S8S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (275 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,615 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
One shouldn't have too much difficulty imagining a two-disc Van Halen compilation entitled The Best of Both Worlds. The first disc will showcase the David Lee Roth-fronted version of the band that reenergized hard rock with its titanic 1978 debut and peaked commercially with 1984's, uh, 1984. Disc two will take up where David Lee was left off--from 1986 on, when Sammy Hagar (and, briefly, Hagar-sound-alike Gary Cherone) took over the mike. Well, unfortunately, that's not the anthology assembled this time out. Rather than sequence the selections chronologically and, in the process, display the band's evolution (or devolution, depending on where one stands in the great Roth/Hagar debate), the band has opted for a more eccentric sequencing strategy. After the opener "Eruption" confirms the sass and chops of the young VH, three fairly uninspired new tracks featuring a back-in-the-fold (for now?) Hagar interrupt the flow. Unfortunately, the flow never really recovers, as Roth and Hagar tracks leapfrog one another through the next 29 selections. Three live Hagar takes on songs from the Roth era finish things off in confusing fashion. Obviously, there's plenty of powerful music here, but do fans really need a lesson in what happens when worlds collide? And didn't David Lee earn at least one photo in the package? --Steven Stolder

Product Description
Van Halen rocketed to stardom with their raucous, 10X-platinum-plus 1978 self-titled album, one of the greatest debuts ever. Anchored by Eddie Van Halen’s guitar wizardry and David Lee Roth's vocal showmanship, the band's dynamic sound reinvented hard rock. A run of multiplatinum Top 10 discs followed, peaking with 1984, another 10X-platinum blockbuster and Roth's swan song. Sammy Hagar replaced the vocalist, a transition that cost the band no momentum. The Red Rocker's VH debut, 1986's 5150 , hit #1 on The Billboard 200, as did 1988's OU812. The Grammy-winning 1991 release, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, reached #5. This new compilation spotlights Van Halen's always-stellar musicianship over the course of 25 years and two world-class frontmen, and continues the story with three brand new Hagar-fronted tracks!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Van Halen....Almost!!!, July 20, 2004

By	Louie Bourland (Garden Grove CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Van Halen is not only back with its first concert tour in over six years but with a brand new 'best of' compilation entitled "The Best Of Both Worlds". This double-disc set is nearly packed to its limits covering the band's two classic eras (1978-1985 with singer David Lee Roth and 1986-1996 with Sammy Hagar). In addition to the remastered tracks, the set includes three brand new songs with the return of Sammy Hagar. "It's About Time", "Up For Breakfast" and "Learning To See" capture a revitalized Van Halen full of fresh new ideas and a style that harkens back to its classic release "5150" (Hagar's first album with Van Halen).
As for the previously released material, it is a more comprehensive overview of the band's hits than what appeared on the 1996 "Best Of Volume 1" compilation. Sure, many of the tracks that appeared on the previous compilation are duplicated here but in addition, there is the VH classics "Hot For Teacher", "Jamie's Cryin'", "Top Of The World", "Pretty Woman", "You Really Got Me" and "Runaround" (plus many others).
Like every "Best of" collection that passes our way, there's always a downside. In the case of Van Halen's "Best Of Both Worlds", there are a few. First, the three live tracks which close the compilation feel completely out of place with the rest of the tracks. Also, the live material (which is three Roth-era tunes sung by Hagar from the band's 1993 live release "Live, Right Here, Right Now") is already presented elsewhere on the compilation in their superior studio versions. Secondly, the band's 1981 "Fair Warning" album is represented soley by the track "Unchained". Adding the popular hits "So This Is Love" and "Mean Street" to the compilation (in place of the live material) would have made the track list even stronger. Thirdly, not only is there no material from "Van Halen III" (the band's ill-fated and only album with singer Gary Cherone), there is no mention of it anywhere in the liner notes or the discography. Like it or not, "Van Halen III" did happen and removing it from a career-spanning anthology isn't going to change it. If there was just one track to represent "VHIII" to include on this compilation, my personal choice would be "Without You". Forth, there is an abrupt cut-out at the end of "Finish What Ya Started" which could have been due to a CD-mastering oversight.
Apart from these minor drawbacks, "The Best Of Both Worlds" is a fine collection from this vetran band. It's great to have Eddie, Alex, Michael and Sammy back together again after being apart for so long. Here's hoping the guys will re-enter the studio to make an album of all-new material real soon. If the three new tracks on this CD are of any indication, I can hardly wait for a full album. Until then, this compilation as well as Van Halen's back catalog will do just fine for now.
God Bless Van Halen. Welcome Back Boys!!!

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A compilation to make both die hard and casual fans mad, August 5, 2004

By	J. M Tyler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Any casual fan probably bought Best of: Vol. 1 a few years ago only to find that it was missing several of the great tracks played on the radio. The die hards bought that album for the 2 new rushed Roth tracks that were decent but did nothing to add to the original Van Halen legacy.

Move ahead 8 years and here we have another greatest hits album...odd seeing as the band has only released one album in that 8 years and NONE of the tracks from that album are represented here. Seems odd, too, since Gary Cherone was supposedly EVH's "musical soulmate" without which he vowed to spend the rest of his days playing trombone. It's a slap in the face to Gary not to at least include "Without You" here.

So anyway, basically what you have here is a band who claims to have written volumes of music in the past 6 years only to release a new hits package with only 3 new tracks. So answer me this, if you're doing this for the casual fans why not release a single disc "Best of Volume 2" with the new Hagar tracks and the rest of the radio tracks you included here? If you're doing this for the die hard fans why insult them by making them buy 2 CDs full of songs they already have for 3 new Hagar tracks that (just like the Roth tracks on BOV1) are decent but do nothing to add to the Van Hagar legacy? If you've written so much music in the past 6 years, why not give us a new album?

And finally, why the live tracks? They're from a live album that true Hagar fans bought years ago. They feature Hagar on vocals, but they're Roth songs. Wouldn't Hagar fans want to hear Hagar singing Hagar songs? Wouldn't Roth fans want to hear Roth singing Roth songs? So why these tracks? Makes no sense. If you had room for 3 more songs why not give us one of the many radio songs you left off the CD, ie. Mean Street, Atomic Punk, Ice Cream Man, Somebody Get Me a Doctor, Top Jimmy, Drop Dead Legs, Summer Nights, 5150, Cabo Wabo, (Don't Tell Me) What Love Can Do, Amsterdam, etc?

To make a long story short, lately Van Halen seems to be a band that cares nothing about their fans. Indeed, this CD is packed full of great music, but it is also packed with a lot of bad blood.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, but ..., June 22, 2005

By	StevenWealthy "stewea" (North Olmstead, OH USA) - See all my reviews

I LOVE Van Halen very much. They are in my top five favorite groups of all time. I love this CD.It basically puts David Lee Roth against Sammy Hagar. There are a few glaring problems however:

1. The idiotic random order. I can put my CD player on "shuffle" if I wish. I don't have a nice "Chronological Order" button however. Even reverse chronological order from present to past would have been fine. Just make a Roth disc and a Hagar disc, maybe put a Cherone song on one of them or something

2. The album's liner notes rudely have no photos of David Lee Roth (unless you count his blurry microscopic pictures on the pictures of the albums on the discography). They say nice things about him and stuff but stil....

3. Gary Cherone is given no mention as existing as part of the band. None of the songs off of the album he cut with the band (Van Halen 3) are on the compilation. The album is not mentioned in the discography section. He is even made fun of in a subtle manner.

4. The inclusion of 3 live songs which are Sammy Hagar singing David Lee Roth Songs. They are unnecessary. They don't sound too bad but its a bit blasphemous to put it on a "Best Of" compilation. Especially since the songs are heard earlier in the album anyway. These could have been omitted in favor of a few better songs.

Some problems other people have with the album that I disagree with are:

1. Others will say the 3 brand new songs on the album suck. I don't believe so. They lack a catchy hook, but otherwise they are really fun to play LOUD!

2. Everybody complains that the song "Finish What Ya Started" is cut off at the end as sort of a clever play on its title... get a life, seriously.

Anyway, its an essential for anyone that loves Van Halen.