The Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen album)

The Best of Both Worlds
Greatest hits album by Van Halen
Released	July 20, 2004
Recorded	1977–1994, 2004
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	156:38
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Van Halen
Van Halen chronology
Van Halen III (1998) The Best of Both Worlds (2004) A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

The Best of Both Worlds is the second greatest hits album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on July 20, 2004 on Warner Bros. The compilation features material recorded with lead vocalists David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar; omitting Gary Cherone's three-year tenure with the band. Prior to The Best of Both Worlds' release, Hagar reunited with Van Halen, and the band subsequently recorded three new tracks to include on the release.

Debuting at #3 in the US,^[4] the album was subsequently followed by a reunion tour, and certified Platinum. It is the last Van Halen album overall to feature contributions from Michael Anthony and Hagar.

Background

The compilation features 16 tracks taken from the six David Lee Roth era albums (1978–1984), and 14 from the four Sammy Hagar era albums (1986–1995), plus three live songs with Hagar from Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993), and three new songs with Hagar made for the compilation. The album was released in promotion of the new reunion tour featuring Hagar returning as lead singer. The three new songs were also performed live at various times.

Michael Anthony did not play bass guitar for the three new songs however he did provide backing vocals for them. Anthony was temporarily not in the band at that point and the songs were already recorded before he rejoined. Eddie Van Halen recorded bass for the new tracks.^[5]

According to Anthony, the original plans involved one disc dedicated to Roth and another to Hagar which would feature the three new songs, but problems while negotiating with Roth led to the track listing which mixed songs from both singers.^[5]

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Eruption" (Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen) – 1:43 (from Van Halen)
2. "It's About Time" (Sammy Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:15 (new song)†
3. "Up for Breakfast" (Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:57 (new song)†
4. "Learning to See" (Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:15 (new song)
5. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:48 (from Van Halen)
6. "Finish What Ya Started" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:24 (from OU812)
7. "You Really Got Me" (Ray Davies) – 2:38 (from Van Halen)
8. "Dreams" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:53 (from 5150)
9. "Hot for Teacher" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:43 (from 1984)
10. "Poundcake" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:20 (from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)
11. "And the Cradle Will Rock..." (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:34 (from Women and Children First)
12. "Black and Blue" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:27 (from OU812)
13. "Jump" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:04 (from 1984)
14. "Top of the World" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:54 (from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)
15. "(Oh) Pretty Woman" (William Dees, Roy Orbison) – 2:53 (from Diver Down)
16. "Love Walks In" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:11 (from 5150)
17. "Beautiful Girls" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:57 (from Van Halen II)
18. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:08 (from Balance)
19. "Unchained" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:29 (from Fair Warning)

Disc two

1. "Panama" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:32 (from 1984)
2. "Best of Both Worlds" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:49 (from 5150)
3. "Jamie's Cryin'" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:30 (from Van Halen)
4. "Runaround" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:20 (from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)
5. "I'll Wait" (Anthony, Michael McDonald, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:42 (from 1984)
6. "Why Can't This Be Love" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:48 (from 5150)
7. "Runnin' with the Devil" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:36 (from Van Halen)
8. "When It's Love" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:38 (from OU812)
9. "Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, Ivy Hunter, William Stevenson) – 3:45 (from Diver Down)
10. "Strung Out"/"Not Enough" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) - 6:48 (from Balance)
11. "Feels So Good" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:32 (from OU812)
12. "Right Now" (Anthony, Hagar, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:22 (from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge)
13. "Everybody Wants Some!!" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 5:10 (from Women and Children First)
14. "Dance the Night Away" (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 3:10 (from Van Halen II)
15. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" [live] (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:43 (from Live: Right Here, Right Now)
16. "Panama" [live] (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 6:39 (from Live: Right Here, Right Now)
17. "Jump" [live] (Anthony, Roth, Van Halen, Van Halen) – 4:20 (from Live: Right Here, Right Now)

Notes

†Denotes a single

Track 10 on disc two combines the instrumental "Strung Out" with "Not Enough", even though "Strung Out" is not listed on the actual album track list. Both songs were listed as individual tracks on the Balance album.

Personnel

Van Halen

• Eddie Van Halen – lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, bass guitar on new tracks
• David Lee Roth – lead and backing vocals on tracks 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 on disc 1; 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 14 on disc 2
• Sammy Hagar – lead vocals on tracks 2-4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 on disc 1; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10-12, 15-17 on disc 2, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Alex Van Halen – drums, percussion
• Michael Anthony – bass guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Steve Lukather – backing vocals on new tracks

Production

• Compilation producer: Van Halen
• Engineer: Bill Malina (on new songs)
• Product manager: Kenny Nemes
• Project assistants: Hugh Brown, Tom Consolo, Malia Doss, Jimmy Edwards, Alan Fletcher, Kevin Gore, Bill Inglot, Joanne Jaworowski, Anna Loynes, Mark McKenna, David McLees, Scott Pascucci
• Mastering supervisor: Glen Ballard
• Remastering: Stephen Marcussen
• Editorial supervision: Cory Frye
• Art direction: Sara Cumings, Jeri Heiden
• Design: Sara Cumings, Jeri Heiden
• Photography: Kevin Westenberg
• Liner notes: David Wild
• Discographical annotation: Steve Woolard

Certification

Charts

Album

Singles

References