The track listing is bizarre. The songs are not in chronological order whatsoever. It would have been nice to at least have the first CD all DLR and the second all Hagar. As well, there are many notable hits that are missing from 2two-CD set. A couple of songs such as “Everybody Wants Some” or “Feels So Good” could have been replaced by other more popular hits such as “Mean Streets”, “I’m the One”, “Mine All Mine”, or “The Dream Is Over”. Gary Cherone’s tenure in the band is non-existant on this set, which may be a little unfair (“Without You” definitely deserves to be on a Van Halen multiple-CD collection). While there may be problems with the track listing, those who complain about that Van Halen hasn’t done much since they previously released a “Greatest Hits” (1996) should find their fears unfounded. More than half the songs on this compilation were not on the “Greatest Hits” CD, which is not including the new songs.
All the tracks on this 2-CD set have been remastered. As far as the sound, I can’t comment on this much considering I haven’t heard any of the remastered songs from the Hagar era. I have the remastered Roth era CDs and the sound quality is excellent. Warner has yet to do the remastering treatment to the earlier Hagar era records so I don’t know how they turned out. However, as far as I’m concerned, the original albums sounded fine to me and only those with very sensitive musically-inclined ears might find problems, so the remastering has probably improved them.
If you don’t have most of the existing Van Halen albums, you should definitely pick up this 2-CD set. Even if you already own the previous “Greatest Hits” album, you should definitely consider buying this compilation. I would avoid it though if you’re like me and you already own all the albums. The three new songs aren’t that groundbreaking enough to warrant a purchase if you’ve already own all the other songs. You could probably buy them from a music download site like iTunes or Puretracks for pennies. Eddie isn’t that broke from his alimony payments to Valerie Bertinelli so he doesn’t need you to desperately buy this album.
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
One of the greatest mysteries of rock is how Hagar and Van Halen, two hard rocking elements on their own, are so much less than the some of their parts when combined.
2 - James Gore
I think that the music has evolved. Eddie's guitar riffs sound nothing like they did in the Roth days as they do now. I suppose that if the music stayed the same and sounded the same, it would become tired and seem too dated.