Van Halen

Balance

Balance is Balanced.

Review Score:

(10/10)
From the fast-paced rockers "Big Fat Money" and "Amsterdam" to the dark and powerful "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" and "The Seventh Seal" to the beautiful ballads "Not Enough" and "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)", Balance delivers on all levels.

Sammy Hagar, who has never been a good lyricist delivers his best -- and worst -- lyrics to date. The lyrics to "Amsterdam" are bloody awful -- "wham bam oh Amsterdam"? C'mon, Sammy, that's bad even for you. But Sammy makes up for this with the wonderful bittersweet lyrics to "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)" and the intelligent lyrics of "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" (even though I still haven't made sense of the title or the chorus). As usual, Sammy's vocal melodies are catchy and infectious.

Eddie Van Halen is as good as he always is -- which is to say, great. I love the guitar sound on this album.

In some subtle ways, I think Balance is somewhat of a natural prequel to Van Halen III. I can sense Eddie Van Halen's urge to experiment on some tracks (listen to "Strung Out" and you'll know what I mean) but he seems held back a bit. Fortunately, Eddie's creativity explodes on Van Halen III (a fine treat).

Balance is an excellent album, just as good as any of Van Halen's previous work (with the possible exception of their self-titled debut).

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