Van Halen

Best of Both Worlds

Music: 5 Stars. Concept & Packaging: 1 Star...

Review Score:

(6/10)
VH's almost-legendary status is poorly served by this de facto ad for the group's upcoming Sammy Hagar-led tour. The first page of David Wild's uncharacteristically shallow liner notes alone twice refers to the band's new tour and/or the idea of buying concert tix. The two new photos of the band feature Sammy, with David Lee Roth visible only in microscopic repros of original LP covers "Van Halen" and "Women and Children First." (THAT must have pissed Diamond Dave off but good.) The music is not the problem: every chart hit plus key album-rock radio staples Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, Jamie's Cryin', Poundcake, and Unchained (the one that goes, "one break, comin' up...") are here. They sound great with two exceptions noted below.

The pretext behind the packaging reveals the shuffling of the Roth and Hagar hits as no accident, just an attempt to minimize the biggest lineup change in rock history in favor of the current touring roster (Wild's "analysis": "Exit Roth. Enter Sammy Hagar. What happened? In any case..."). Fortunately the era-melding theme was not carried so far as to include stuff from the nightmarish VH3 era with that guy from Extreme. The last step in the campaign to move concert tix worth several times the price of this CD set? Include three Hagar-sung live versions of Dave-era classics to show that Sam can put over the whole VH songbook: goodness, honey, he even sings "real" with two syllables just like David! Now where DID I put that credit card?!

More than most groups, Van Halen has a story deserving major discussion in the booklet to its supposedly definitive collection. Unfortunately this feels like a rush job that needs to replaced by something better in a year or two. A shame.

P.S.: Check your copy for the ending of "Finish What Ya Started;" on 3 copies I've listened to so far, it ends abruptly in mid-note. Since it fades out on 45 and on "OU812," it's probably a defect rather than a play on the title. And--just like on "Best of Vol. 1"--"Eruption" sounds unnatural leading into anything that's not "You Really Got Me," as it did/does on "Van Halen" and on the radio.

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