Van Halen: The Best Of Both Worlds (CD) CD Track Listing

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Van Halen The Best Of Both Worlds (CD) (2004)
2004 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.Originally Released July 20, 2004AMG EXPERT REVIEW: It's no secret that there's a deep animosity between VanHalen -- particularly their leader, guitarist Edward (formerly Eddie) VanHalen -- and their former frontman, David Lee Roth. His 1985 departure wasacrimonious, and while his solo career paled in comparison to Van Halen'scontinued success with Sammy Hagar as their frontman, the group never escaped the shadow of Diamond Dave. No matter how many number one albums andsingles they racked up, no matter how many shows they sold out, fans and critics alike preferred their gonzo days with Roth, and kept hounding the band for a reunion. Edward held his ground for years, but once the band stumbled with 1995's Balance, he reconsidered, courting Dave for an ill-fatedminireunion for the 1996 hits compilation The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1 -- a move that resulted not just in two enjoyable albeit underwhelming newsongs, but also the alienation of Sammy, who left the band over this issue. Van Halen recruited Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone for 1998's Van Halen III, but instead of offering a new beginning, the album torpedoed the group's career, losing them fans and eventually their record contract. Years passed with no activity from the band, and the silence whetted the appetitefor a reunion -- which for many meant a reunion with Dave, not Sammy, butbad blood can run deep, so when Edward pulled the rest of the band together for a comeback tour in 2004, he chose Hagar as the frontman. To promotethe tour, the band assembled a new hits compilation, the double-disc, 36-track Best of Both Worlds. On the surface, this seemed like an ideal solution to the problems that plagued the half-baked Best Of, which at one disccouldn't possibly have fit the hits from both the Dave and Sam eras, but Best of Both Worlds turns out to be another botched collection, and one ofthe reasons it doesn't work as well as it should is that animosity towardDavid Lee Roth.Since the band's sound and popularity were built on therecords they made with Roth, there was no way for Van Halen to ignore hiscontribution, but they do their damnedest to diminish it here. There areno 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 lavishingpraise on Sammy. As petty as this swipe is, it's understandable and couldeven be f YEAR: 2004
This rock cd contains 19 tracks and runs 78min 43sec.
Freedb: fd127113
Buy: from Amazon.com

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