Can someone help me plz

[TenaciousD21]

hey i am a very young van halen fan (15) and i just started listening 2 balance a couple of months ago. i was wondering if any of u seasoned vh pros could let me know what u think of the other albums and let me know which ones i should pick up. i really appreciate the help thanks. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[kenny5150]

Well......I would recommend getting a spread of VH from beginning to 'end' so to speak.

Definitley get 'Van Halen I'.
Most of the guys here like 'Fair Warning'
Then try '5150' given that you already have 'Balance' giving you two of each singer.

Good luck! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[rebel78]

Can't go wrong really. If you really like "balance", I would pick up For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Van Halen 1 is awesome, my fav Dave album, Fair Warning rocks. Kinda sad to say, but check out the bargain bins, they're there if your lucky.

[Dan Halen]

I would say either the first album or Fair Warning. For the Hagar years, 5150 is a must-have. Just make sure you get all of them eventually.

[dirtymovies]

I can't NOT recommend any but VHIII. They all are kick ass but VHIII with Gary Cherone as lead singer. Not typical Van Halen quality IMO.
My Favorite Sammy albums are:
1. Balance
2. 5150
3. F.U.C.K.
But they're ALL great!
My Favorite Dave albums are:
1. Van Halen
2. Fair Warning
3. Diver Down
But they're ALL great!

Also, there are MANY Dave solo albums which rock (Eat 'Em And Smile is a MUST HAVE!) and many Sammy solo albums which are good (Marching to Mars rocks!). [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Raldo]

For balls to the wall, the debut album is great. For angry but impressive guitar, get 'Fair Warning'. '5150' is one of the best with Sammy.

[Crmlcrm216]

Definitely get "Van Halen I"

[Fabulous Shadow aka VHL]

Each one has something to offer. My least fav is Diver Down... My Favs are VH1 and Fair warning. As for Sammy era... FUCK and 5150

[dirtymovies]

Originally posted by Fabulous Shadow aka VHL:
Each one has something to offer. My least fav is Diver Down... My Favs are VH1 and Fair warning. As for Sammy era... FUCK and 5150

Your least fav is DD?!?!?!?! I'm so disappointed....

[Fabulous Shadow aka VHL]

Well, just for the sake of argument... Which one is your least fav... besides III

[ January 24, 2003, 03:32 PM: Message edited by: Fabulous Shadow aka VHL ]

[Red-Diamond]

Hmm, I'm surprised that no one mentioned 1984.

Well dude, I'd go with VH1, 1984, and 5150. You'll love them all trust me my man.

[dirtymovies]

Originally posted by Fabulous Shadow aka VHL:
Well, just for the sake of argument... Which one is your least fav... besides III

Umm, probably OU812...or maybe WACF. They're GREAT, don't get me wrong, but less GREAT...

[redfire]

Yeah I'd get them like this..

VH1
Fair Warning
5150
1984
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
VH2
Diver Down
Women and Children First
OU812
VH3

I'd suggest getting Best of Volume 1 but it doesn't have anything on it from Diver Down and it doesn't represent Fair Warning very well. I am truly amazed at how they only put out 1 Best Of, cause there are sooooo many tracks they left out.

You Really Got Me - VH1
Jamie's Cryin
Ice Cream Man
Somebody Get me a Doctor - VH2
Beautiful Girls
Everybody Wants Some - WACF
Romeo Delight
Mean Street - Fair Warning
Hear About it Later
So This is Love
Little Guitars - Diver Down
Full Bug
Drop Dead Legs - 1984
Hot for Teacher

And that's just the freakin' Dave era.

Sammy's, hell they left of 5150, and that's just wrong. Not to mention Best of Both Worlds, Summer Nights and even Love Walks In.

Van Halen really does have an amazing selection of great songs. You will never see another artist, group, band, whatever have as many clear cut great songs as the mighty Van Halen.

[Wolfman]

Tenacious -

Hard to tell you how to get a real feel for the band without telling you "get EVERYTHING" ( ), but my personal opinion would be:

1.) Start with the self-titled first album (which everybody is calling VH1). Classic, raunchy, fiery album like nothing else that ever came out before it. Just like Led Zep was - they created an immediate identity that nobody could ever copy.

2.) Next, I would go to Fair Warning (my personal fave) - you can hear Eddie at his most driven on that album. There's a lot fire behind that album due to the fact that the band was in a bit of turmoil at the time and Ed would record late at night with engineer Donn Landee without the rest of the guys around. Some of Ed's best playing and songwriting ever.

3.) 1984. This is the one that made VH mainstream names once and for all with the general public, and not just with hard rock fans. Flawless songwriting from start to finish. Unfortunately, it was the last album with Roth.

4.) 5150. First album with Sam, and it was totally fresh. You can tell the guys were having fun again as a band, and Ed plays keys without having to hear Roth bitch about it. LOL

5.) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Personally, I consider it to be the hardest rocking album they did with Sam, and it's by far my favorite of the Sam era.

After that, the order you listen to these isn't all that important, IMO, because they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I'll give my opinion on each, chronologically (for simplicity).

Van Halen II - A great transition from the first album (which set the world on its ear and introduced Ed as the guitarist to reckon with from there on out). It was actually my first VH album that I owned, and then I immediately went back and got the first. A lot of Classic Rock radio stations play this as much as the first album.

Women and Children First - Extremely underrated album. I've never understood why this didn't get more favorable reviews (but then again Fair Warning was panned by the critics, and is considered by a lot of fans to be their best. Go figure). Great party album. Ice-cold kegs, at a backyard party with this one cranked up was the norm when I was in High School (ok, I was in JR. High and drinking, but... [img]graemlins/sssh.gif[/img] )

Diver Down - You either love it or you hate it, for the most part. More cover songs than any other VH album, and Ed has said it's his least favorite, obviously because of the covers. A lot of gems on it though, and a very important link in understanding the history of the Roth years. I love it myself, but it ranks behind the rest of the Roth albums to me.

OU812 - I loved this album when it came out, and then I hated it for a few years lately, mainly because of the poor recording quality. Worst mix on a VH album, IMO. Lately, I've been listening to it again and enjoying it, but they really need to remaster this one someday.

Live RHRN - I guess the best thing about this one is that we finally got a live album out of VH. A little too polished, but still better than many other live albums. Ed's live 316 solo is awesome. Some day, we are going to have to have a cleaned up live album with Roth. He may have been sloppy live, but the atmosphere and vibe at his shows with VH were the ultimate.

Balance - I'm extremely biased about this album, and I guess that's why I'll expand on it more than the others. I think there's a lot of filler that could have been left off of it. After the first four songs, I don't care for much of it, except for Aftershock and Balluchitherium. Oh, and "Not Enough" is a strong ballad, if you like ballads. "Doin' Time" is a horrid example for a drum instrumental for Alex - it's too manufactured sounding for a guy that is one of the best live drummers ever. "Strung Out" is an interesting novelty that would have been great as an unreleased track on a box set someday, but is useless on a studio album. "Feelin'" and Deja Vu" are some of the worst crap I've ever heard from VH or Sammy Hagar. Oddly enough,those songs - not to mention the album itself - seem to be the favorites of younger VH fans. Perhaps you may relate to it and like it better than I did personally.

Best of Vol. I - The two new songs from Roth, as well as "Humans Being" are the only reason to own this if you have all their other albums. The previously released tracks were remastered for this and sound better, but if you buy the remastered versions of the Roth catalog, it's a moot point.

VH III - Oh boy. You are going to be hard pressed for favorable reviews on this one. Personally, I'm a little indifferent about it. Gary Cherone was pushed into the band and asked to sound like Sammy, which was mistake number one. Cherone was a talented guy with his own identity with Extreme and they should have let him be himself. Ray Danniels is largely responsible for everything wrong with this era of VH, if you believe the stories surrounding the time, and I do. The second big mistake, at least in regards to Cherone, was that the album was very experimental and much unlike any other VH release. Shitty time for a new guy to have to take the helm. Ed has some phenomenal playing on the album, and some of these songs are well written, yet chaotic. By that I mean that Cherone's phrasing and meter on top of the music, as well as the parts played underneath make it seem like there is no cohesiveness and there are too many things going on at once. Maybe it was intended to be daring and avant garde, but it just comes off as sloppy and disjointed. Most people will roll their eyes at me saying this, since it's extremely fashionable to hate the album, but I think it's still important to listen to in order to understand another chapter of VH history.

Long post, I know - but I hope it helps in choosing your first few VH albums.

[I Coulda Hada VH]

Great post Wolf. I think you're pretty accurate in your reviews. Here is how I would rate the VH albums:

VH I
Fair Warning
VH II
1984
Women and Children First
Diver Down
5150
OU812
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Balance
VH III

Fab is correct about Diver Down being the weakest Dave-era album. As you can see by my list, I feel that each album with Sammy was weaker than the previous one(s). VH III is simply dreadful and a terrible way for Van Halen to go out, as it appears they have done. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]