I found this at the CD store and was only a little annoyed when a band as good as Van Halen will continue to make Compilation Cd's. That said, if you havent heard anything by Van Halen then this would be an Ok place to start. However, if you have alot of money or too much time then you should consider purchasing the original albums especially 1984 and 5150. This double disk set does have some excellent peices of work including Jump, Panama, Best Of Both Worlds, Eruption etc. Good Starter Album, fairly solid Collection of songs.
The Album has some killer songs including:
Eruption
A short guitar solo by Mr Van Halen which is one of the reasons he is known as one of the greatest guitarists ever and this one of the greatest solo’s ever. Eddie also did the solo for Beat It by Michael Jackson. In one take.
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
This songs a scorcher. Iread somewhere that Eddie didn’t tune his guitar up for this song. Doesn’t really matter to much as this song is a gem from beginning to end.
Hot For Teacher
One of the more famous Van Halen songs this really is good with a Drum Intro courtesy of Alex, Eddie’s brother. After some insane guitar work David Lee Roth joins the fun with some suitably filthy Lyrics.
Jump
Another incredibly famous Van Halen song that actually does have a synthesizer instead of a weird guitar effect like I earlier thought. A very very catchy chorus and a suitably insane solo from our good friend Edward.
Can’t Stop Loving You
Probably my favourite Sammy Hagar song this shows off his vocal range which I find impressive. Starts with a mini solo over some chords which soon launches into one high quality song.
Panama
There are few words to describe this song so I will have to try my best. Awesome intro. Strong verse. Incredible chorus. Mind blowing solo. There is very little Van Halen that can match this and there is few songs as solid as this from beginning to end.
Best Of Both Worlds
An Intro that reminds me of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, it is a good opener to a very good song. A chorus that is almost bellowed and a fairly soft verse. Traditional solo which further shames 99% of guitarists ever.
Why Can’t This Be Love
A drum intro to the very first Sammy Hagar song I ever heard. A spaced out guitar riff accompanies a pounding drum beat which leads into a chorus that sticks in your head. That would be annoying if it weren’t for the fact that this is one damn good song.
Runnin’ With The Devil
I have never really liked this song when compared to songs such as Jump, Panama and Hot For Teacher, this song has really grown on me and I see it as a high quality song.
Dance the Night Away
A cowbell of all instruments opens this song which is a scorching dance tune. Really the only thing that could possibly make this song better is a solo. Apart from that this song is awesome.
And those are just the hits, there are other good songs such as Top Of The World and Unchained but I’ll be honest, I am fairly lazy.
Any feedback will be good I want to get better at writing reviews.
