Van Halen

1) There's only three songs on the other GH one that is not on the "Best of Both Worlds" one. Those three are Humans Being, and the two "new" DLR songs (Can't Get this Stuff no More & Me Wise Magic). Other than that, every other song from that one is on this one.

2) This has three new songs with Sammy on it. Of the two I've heard so far, I rather like 'em - I think It's About Time is a great song.

3) There's nothing from the Gary Cherone album on here. I know most people don't care for it, but I do. They could have used the single (Without You), or possibly Dirty Water Dog, which was a great song.

4) There are three live songs (Talkin About Love, Panama, Jump) that are also on here as studio versions. There are plenty of other songs that could have been here - instead they put three songs on here twice. WHAT IS WITH THAT?

As with any Greatest Hits album there will always be preferences that were left off. For me, that's "Ice Cream Man". That's the perfect end of album song, to me. Should ahve been here, instead of three live versions of songs that are already on the package elsewhere! I suppose it will come down to whether or not you've already got the first one. If you do, you'll be buying what essentially amounts to "Disc 2" of the other Greatest Hits package plus a couple of extras. Of course, now you can't dump your copy of Volume 1 either, because it's got three songs that aren't on any other Van Halen album - and Me Wise Magic is one of the best DLR era VH tracks.

About Best of Both Worlds? It's a great greatest hits album, has just about every major Van Halen hit, plus a few good new tracks. Worth it, I think.

Van Halen changes singers again, and this time I was excited. I loved Gary Cherone from Extreme, so I was eager to hear this album. It was great! It's generally discarded now, but I think it holds up well. I saw them on this tour, and the show was fabolous! The new songs were great live, and they played some oldies they hadn't played in ages (Unchained). Probably not an album for everyone, but I tend to like "lost" albums by bands like this. I think it's a solid disc that makes me want to stomp my feet!

Picked this up mostly so I could hear the two new songs recorded with David Lee Roth. Plus there's some songs from the earlier DLR era albums that I didn't have that I wanted, so this was a good pickup. As I look at the track listing, I don't think there's a track here that I put under the category of "skip". The two "new" DLR songs are great, although I have the sneaking suspicion that they were to be recorded by Sammy, and given his departure from the band, they got Dave to sing 'em.

After a four year break, Van Halen returns with the masterful Balance. This is by far my favorite of the Sammy era albums, because it's got (for me, anyway) the best song construction. Some of the songs are very Led Zeppelinesque - some of them sound like typical Van Halen, but some have a "Pink Floyd" quality to them, too. It's probably not the most accessible VH album, but I loved it. I did hate the cover art though. :(

Much better than OU812 - this is the album that Van Halen should have made right after 5150. Much stronger overall than the last, and has several songs that I like. One of my all time VH songs is on here, "Poundcake". Also "Right Now" another classic is on this disc as well. Not their greatest, but a good album just the same.

This is probably my least favourite Van Halen album. It's not that it's really BAD, it just does nothing for me. I think the two songs from it that I can say I really like are "Finish What You Started", and "Mine All Mine". I can't remember the last time I listened to this one.

Van Halen changes singers. At the time, I remember thinking it's gonna sound really weird, because I knew Sammy from a few hit singles here and there, definitely thought "This won't be the same". Anyway, the album we got was quite good. I like all the well known songs, but I'm very partial to the songs "Inside", and "Summer Nights". Summer Nights is one that should have been played more, because it very well fits the subject that it talks about in the title.

Oh no! Van Halen introduces keyboards. I remember when this album was new that the introduction of keyboards was a major event. I remember several people saying it would automatically suck because of this, that VH is a guitar band only. Well, the first single was Jump, and the (heavy) inclusion of keyboards on this song didn't affect it - Jump was one of their biggest hits of all time. There's lots of awesome stuff here - Panama, Hot for Teacher, I'll Wait, House of Pain, as well as Jump. Might be the most known/popular Van Halen album. Plus the cover art pissed off a lot of people. :)

When doing the research for this entry I can't find evidence of a firm release date. A lot of places say it was released on Jan 9, 1984, but I bought this when it was new, and I can swear up and down it was late 1983. I can't prove it, though.

Diver Down came out when I was in High School, and while it's not the heaviest VH album, I consider it to be the most "fun". There's several covers on here, but my favorite song is easily "Big Bad Bill". It's a song unlike any other VH has recorded, even including some of the stuff they did with Sammy. I'm also partial to "Little Guitars". Lots of good stuff here.

It's nice to see an album in this genre that doesn't take itself too seriously.

This was one Van Halen album that for some reason I never bought. I like most of the songs on here, and Unchained is a VH all time favorite. I also like Mean Street, Sinner's Swing & One Foot Out the Door. But until I bought this in December of 2003, I never actually owned the thing. I always borrowed it from a friend, or something along those lines. Not sure why I never got it. It's not their best album, but it does have some great songs on it.

I also never owned Van Halen II or Women & Children first, which were the albums inbetween this one and the first one, same reason.

Van Halen's first album is essential listening to any rock and roll fan. This album is just a blistering slab of music, one that every person who claims to like rock and roll should own. Everyone knows Runnin with the Devil, You Really Got Me, & Ain't Talkin About Love. However, my favorite on this album is "Ice Cream Man". A great tune that's pretty much flown under the radar.