Best Of Van Halen, Volume 1 (1996)
1. Eruption
2. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
3. Runnin' With the Devil
4. Dance the Night Away
5. And the Cradle Will Rock...
6. Unchained
7. Jump
8. Panama
9. Why Can't This Be Love
10.Dreams
11.When It's Love
12.Poundcake
13.Right Now
14.Can't Stop Loving You
15.Human's Being
16.Can't Get This Stuff o More
17.Me Wise Magic
This one might have landed with a little more impact had it not been followed just a few years later by a double-CD *Best Of* set — and with no new studio album in between. Trying to condense Van Halen’s catalog into a single disc was never going to cut it, even if their actual roster of bona fide hits was shorter than some fans like to believe.
According to Sammy Hagar, this was *the* record that “broke up the band” — at least his version of it. He wanted nothing to do with a greatest hits release, and matters weren’t helped when the rest of the group went ahead and recorded a few new tracks with former frontman David Lee Roth for the compilation… without mentioning it to him. The kicker? Both Roth tracks are clunkers that have no business anywhere near a “best of” package. There’s also one “new” Hagar track, Humans Being, lifted from the soundtrack to Twister, and it’s not much better. And while we’re at it — why is Poundcake here, considering some of the far stronger material that was left out?
In the end, you’ve got an underfed one-disc collection padded with three thoroughly mediocre new songs. The result? A lukewarm stopgap that pleased no one. The good news is the next compilation would prove to be a far more satisfying affair.
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