Van Halen

Best of Both Worlds

5 Stars for the classics / 3 for the new songs....

Review Score:

(10/10)
What's good about it?
You don't need me to tell you about all the monster (and minor) hits that are on this disc; you know them, you love them. Unless of course you're one of those people that can't enjoy both versions of Van Halen. Either way, there's plenty of classic material to please David Roth fans (15 songs) and Sammy Hagar fans alike (15 songs). There are three live (Hagar) tracks thrown in for filler, and three brand new studio tracks to celebrate the reunion. These are the tracks you really want to know about.

"It About Time" is the first track that was released to radio, and it appears to be the Van Halen reunion anthem. There's really no other way to explain the lyrics. It's you typical Van Hagar song. The heavy opening riff continues where "Humans Being" left off. The arrangement is a little congested, but the track tends to grow on you. "Learning to See" has Sammy Hagar's writing style all over it. It's a thoughtful power ballad that tries hard to capture the magic of past Van Halen jems. I think more of "Feeling" than of "Right Now". Eddie shows that he's still the master of the fret board during his extensive solo. Led by a great chugga-chugga riff, "Up for Breakfast" is a blues based song loaded with plenty of sexual innuendo. Take a guess what she's getting up.

Anything bad?
Worst Van Halen album cover ever!! This release makes your purchase of Best of Volume 1 worthless, except for the two new Roth tracks.

Bottom Line
The most complete Van Halen hits collection! This should have been the one released years ago. I guess there's no chance of Vol. 2 seeing the light of day. The Best of Both Worlds is sure to please Hagar and Roth fans alike. The new songs take a little getting used to. In my opinion, they're not as good as the Roth songs on the last Best Of. As far as the reunion goes, only time will tell if this is the real thing or a quick cash-in.

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