Van Halen

Best of Both Worlds

In my words

Review Score:

(2/10)
First: Thankyou to B.J. Oconner for a well thought out review.
Second: It seems this band went from "Ahead of its time" with Dave to a decade behind the times with Sammy. I won't knock either singer. But this is unmistakable with those 3 "new" songs. Didn't realize Van Hagar was grunge.
Third: The only way they could sell this album was by alternating songs. If they split it up Dave era and Sammy era, the only way Sam would get any royalties is if he bought every copy himself because all 5 of Van Hagar's fans couldn't possibly buy enough to save Sam's ego.
Fourth: Don't tell me I'm not a "true fan" because I don't fawn over the poetic felonies that they committed between 86-96. And while they may have toured as "Van Halen", it was in name only.
Two bands, two sounds, two attitudes, two genres that share the same name.
Fifth: Sam singing Dave songs is blasphemy by definition and in extremely poor taste. You don't claim Judas sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins like Jesus did. An analogy, not comparison.
Sixth: I truly believe Van Hagar would have been better received by DLR fans had he gone the Brian Johnson route and embraced DLR's legacy with the band like Brian did with Bon Scott. He alienated fans by trying to dismiss 1978-1984 as an inferior product to his. It has become painfully obvious throughout the last 20 years that Classic Van Halen has outlived the Van Hagar "hair band" version with overwhelming proof by popularity and rock radio play lists. I've heard "Its About Time" once on the radio, the day it was released and the call in response was so undeniably, universally hated they have not played it since.
Seventh: Is it really so hard to believe they would leave out VH3 when they went out of their way to forget Diamond Dave? That pisses me off to the point I want to become violent. That's like Black Sabbath trying to dismiss Ozzy. They won't be in the Hall of Fame because of Hagar. They will be for Classic Van Halen and if they try to, it should be written into law they never again release another chord. And lyrically, Sam can not hold Diamond Dave's witty pen.

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