Van Halen Best Of Both Worlds

Since the band's sound and popularity were built on the records they made with Roth, there was no way for Van Halen to ignore his contribution, but they do their damnedest to diminish it here. There are no pictures of Diamond Dave to be found in the artwork (unless you count the miniature reproductions of the sleeves of Van Halen and Women and Children First) and David Wild's liner notes mention him only twice -- once when he joins the band, once when he leaves -- while conspicuously lavishing praise on Sammy. As petty as this swipe is, it's understandable and could even be forgivable if the two discs were well assembled, but they're sabotaged by an absurd sequencing that alternates a Dave song with a Sammy song for the bulk of the entire collection. This is a jarring sequencing, to say the least, causing a whiplash change of tone, mood, and attitude with every song, which are otherwise well-chosen, containing the big hits from each era (the only exception is the boneheaded move to end the collection with three cuts from the 1993 live album Live: Right Here, Right Now, all Diamond Dave songs sung by Sammy). This attempt to elevate Sammy above Dave in the canon is a bit like trying to say Ronnie James Dio was more important to Black Sabbath than Ozzy Osbourne -- a piece of flat-out hyperbole that does a disservice to what the singer actually achieved. David Lee Roth was larger than life, a gonzo performance artist touched with genius who helped Van Halen seem bigger, sillier, grander than any other metal band; with him in front, they were giants, they were golden gods. Sammy Hagar was his opposite, an everyman who sang about girls and tequila, somebody who brought Van Halen back down to earth. Since part of the fun of rock stars is to have them be larger than life, a manifestation of the audience's dreams, fans naturally gravitate toward the Diamond Dave years, but there are merits to both approaches and both resulted in good to great music. But that's hard to appreciate on Best of Both Worlds, when the Dave and Sammy tunes are mixed up with no regard for chronological, musical, or emotional cohesiveness.

Good seller.

VH Rules

I was very young to really appreciate the in-s and outs of this band and the members between SAMMY, Roth and EVH! I honestly can consider myself a newbie to this time-tested rockers. I just downloaded this off of iTunes and i can tell u folks, every track is amazing! its like when Lars (Metallica) said once: "i was always amazed with G&R"...if i may borrow this line, i had always heard of the great EVH vs. Hagar vs Roth but honestly never appreciated this Guitar work before today! EVH is an amazing talent and it will continue to influence i am sure allot of new artists. My brother in Law was debating with us about Slash, Sammy, EVH, and Edge (U2), Clapton and apparently they all chose EVH. I didn't believe it till i heard it! EVH is an inspiration. Anyone interested even remotely in any of these guys in EVH's history, should get this album because it is truly harnesses from almost all the worlds EVH has been to and in!

Bought this as a Christmas gift for 1 of they're big fans & I know they will be very well satisfied with this for Christmas.....Delivery was right on the estimated delivery date & very well pleased with this purchase myself for the price.....will definitely buy from the seller again for other items in the future.....5 STARS

If you like Van Halen then you are going to want this. The second CD has a lot of great music, the first one is more of Eddie loving the sound his guitar makes. Yes he knows how to play, but sometimes you have to know when a little less would be so much better. But still that is the Van Halen way and they are one of the all time greats, an I am not. I am sure you know the group and there are songs from both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar so in that respect it is the "Best of both worlds."

Original singer and has all the good songs that aren't on regular CD. Plays great. Shipped fast and no damages. Worth the buy

Best compilation ever! Cheers mate