This is disappointing. I was hoping for a Best Of Volume Two, that would showcase the tracks its predecessor neglected, but instead, they're going for the classic double-dip move. Well-played, Warner Bros.

Everytime Sammy sings a Dave-era tune, it always sounds like crapola, so the live versions of "Jump," "Panama" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" are very unnecessary additions. I'd rather have "Humans Being" from Twister and the two tracks they recorded in 1996 with Dave ("Me Wise Magic" and "Can't Get This Stuff No More"). Or maybe even "(Don't Tell Me) What Love Can Do" from Balance and "Fire In The Hole" and "Without You" from the oft-panned Cherone album.

I'm keeping Best Of Volume One for the afforementioned "Humans Being," "Me Wise Magic" and "Can't Get This Stuff No More," and I probably won't be buying this (unless I can find it cheap).

And what the hell? More Sammy than Dave? Dave recorded six albums with Van Halen (and had more hits) vs. Sammy's four (with less hits).

This "reunion" is going to be a joke; I just know it.

Anyway, here's the tracklisting:

Disc One:
1. Eruption
2. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
3. You Really Got Me
4. Jamie's Cryin'
5. Runnin' With The Devil
6. Beautiful Girls
7. Dance The Night Away
8. And The Cradle Will Rock...
9. Everybody Wants Some!!
10. Unchained
11. Dancing In The Street
12. (Oh) Pretty Woman
13. Hot For Teacher
14. Jump
15. Panama
16. I'll Wait
17. Why Can't This Be Love
18. Dreams
19. Best OF Both Worlds
20. Love Walks In

Disc Two:
1. When It's Love
2. Finish What Ya Started
3. Feels So Good
4. Black And Blue
5. Poundcake
6. Runaround
7. Right Now
8. Top Of The World
9. Can't Stop Lovin' You
10. Not Enough
11. It's About Time
12. Learning To See
13. Up For Breakfast
14. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (live)
15. Jump (live)
16. Panama (live)

The Cherone "era" of Van Halen should have not been ignored.
"Without You" is a pretty good track, despite what the critics say.
The Cherone album was part of the bands history, so it should have been included on the Best Of Vol. II.

Originally posted by TJL
The Cherone "era" of Van Halen should have not been ignored.
"Without You" is a pretty good track, despite what the critics say.
The Cherone album was part of the bands history, so it should have been included on the Best Of Vol. II.

well, except for possibly the live tracks, I can't think of any of the Roth and Hagar songs I'd ditch in favor of Without You.

New Cuts Featured On Van Halen's 'Best'

By Jonathan Cohen
Billboard

Van Halen has recorded three new songs for inclusion on "The Very Best of Van Halen," expected to come out later this summer via Warner Music Group. The cuts "It's About Time," "Up for Breakfast" and "Learning To See" feature vocalist Sammy Hagar, who is rejoining the group for the first time in eight years.

The double-disc "Very Best" picks up the Van Halen story with the iconic "Eruption" from the group's self-titled 1978 debut. Every major hit is present, from the David Lee Roth-era smashes "Jump," "Panama," "I'll Wait" and "(Oh) Pretty Woman" to such Hagar-associated material as "When It's Love," "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Finish What Ya Started."

Also featured are live versions of "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love," "Jump" and "Panama" from the 1993 concert set "Right Here, Right Now." Notably excluded are any songs from Van Halen's latest studio album, 1998's "Van Halen III," the lone release to feature former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone.

Van Halen's first tour since 1998 will kick off June 11 in Greensboro, N.C. Manager Irving Azoff recently told Billboard the trek will ultimately consist of four legs of 22 shows each.

According to a spokesperson, the album's running order has not yet been finalized, contrary to the track list posted on Van Halen's official Web site.

why aren the first four tracks Running With The Devil/Eruption/You Really Got Me/Ain't Talking Bout Love in that order? THAT is one of the all time classic 4-sequenced-in-a-row's any album has to offer, by mixing the four in a different order, it's not the same. You expect to hear the beginning of You Really Got Me just as soon as Eruption ends

See, here's what I would have done if I was told by Warner Bros. to assemble a career-spanning "best-of."

I'm not sure if this meets the time limit on two 80-minute CDs, but here goes:

Disc One:
1. Eruption
2. You Really Got Me
3. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
4. Runnin' With The Devil
5. Jamie's Cryin'
6. Ice Cream Man
7. Beautiful Girls
8. Dance The Night Away
9. And The Crade Will Rock...
10. Everybody Wants Some!!
11. Unchained
12. Dancing In The Street
13. (Oh) Pretty Woman
14. 1984
15. Jump
16. Panama
17. I'll Wait
18. Hot For Teacher
19. Why Can't This Be Love?
20. Dreams
21. Best Of Both Worlds
22. Love Walks In

Disc Two:
1. When It's Love
2. Finish What Ya Started
3. Feels So Good
4. Poundcake
5. Runaround
6. Right Now
7. Top Of The World
8. (Don't Tell Me) What Love Can Do
9. Can't Stop Lovin' You
10. Not Enough
11. Humans Being
12. Can't Get This Stuff No More
13. Me Wise Magic
14. Without You
15. Fire In The Hole
16. It's About Time
17. Learning To See
18. Up For Breakfast

I would've gone ahead and added Black And Blue just so it would have every charting single (#34 in 1988). I hate when GH cd's purposely avoid one or two charting singles, making it not 100% complete.

I probably won't even buy the CD. I have most of thee songs on other CDs. If I do buy it, it'll just be for the new songs.

If Warner Brothers had asked me to put together a Van Halen two-disc "Best Of..." set, these are the songs that I would go with:

DISC 1
1. Runnin' With The Devil
2. You Really Got Me
3. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
4. Jamie's Cryin'
5. Dance The Night Away
6. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
7. And The Cradle Will Rock...
8. Everybody Wants Some
9. Mean Street
10. Hear About It Later
11. Unchained
12. Pretty Woman
13. Dancing In The Street
14. Where Have All The Good Times Gone
15. Jump
16. Panama
17. Hot For Teacher
18. I'll Wait
19. Drop Dead Legs

DISC 2
1. Why Can't This Be LOve
2. Dreams
3. Summer Nights
4. Best Of Both Worlds
5. Love Walks In
6. Black and Blue
7. Cabo Wabo
8. Feels So Good
9. When It's Love
10. Finish What You Started
11. Mine All Mine
12. Pondcake
13. Runaround
14. The Dream Is Over
15. Right Now
16. Top Of The World
17. Can't Stop Lovin" You
18. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
19. Amsterdam
20. Not Enough
21. Humans Being
22. It's About Time
23. Up For Breakfast
24. Learning To See

Originally posted by dukey
If Warner Brothers had asked me to put together a Van Halen two-disc "Best Of..." set, these are the songs that I would go with:

DISC 1
1. Runnin' With The Devil
2. You Really Got Me
3. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
4. Jamie's Cryin'
5. Dance The Night Away
6. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
7. And The Cradle Will Rock...
8. Everybody Wants Some
9. Mean Street
10. Hear About It Later
11. Unchained
12. Pretty Woman
13. Dancing In The Street
14. Where Have All The Good Times Gone
15. Jump
16. Panama
17. Hot For Teacher
18. I'll Wait
19. Drop Dead Legs

DISC 2
1. Why Can't This Be LOve
2. Dreams
3. Summer Nights
4. Best Of Both Worlds
5. Love Walks In
6. Black and Blue
7. Cabo Wabo
8. Feels So Good
9. When It's Love
10. Finish What You Started
11. Mine All Mine
12. Pondcake
13. Runaround
14. The Dream Is Over
15. Right Now
16. Top Of The World
17. Can't Stop Lovin" You
18. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)
19. Amsterdam
20. Not Enough
21. Humans Being
22. It's About Time
23. Up For Breakfast
24. Learning To See

Good tracklist, Dukey. But it's hard for me to ignore the two Roth tracks from '96, since I'm more of a Roth man (still like Sammy, though).

I like how your discs are separated by Dave/Sammy, though. :thumbsup:

The title has been changed to Best Of Both Worlds. The release date is July 19.

It has also been stated that the tracklisting posted on the band's official website might no be final. Stay tuned.

I think their new song "It's About Time" is great. I've been hearing it on the radio quite a bit lately. I'm not really a big fan of Sammy, but I thought this new song was really good.

What, no Ice Cream Man?!! Oh, the humanity. I guess when you have so many songs to pick from, it's hard to narrow it down.

I agree with TJL. While "Van Cherone" wasn't very sucessful, a song or two could've been added to the list.

And I'll probably get the rack or the chinese water torture for this, but I do not like "Jump". Never have. Everybody else seems to like it, but when I hear the first few notes of the keyboards, I change the station. Love Panama & I'll Wait, though.

This is what the Best Of Both Worlds tracklisting is looking like now. Unfortunately, it's going to be non-chronological. That's a shame, but I guess they're trying to get the Dave-only fans to warm up to Sammy and vice-versa. That equals more album sales, after all.

Disc One:
1. Eruption
2. It's About Time
3. Up For Breakfast
4. Learning To See
5. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
6. Finish What Ya Started
7. You Really Got Me
8. Dreams
9. Hot For Teacher
10. Poundcake
11. And The Cradle Will Rock...
12. Black And Blue
13. Jump
14. Top Of The World
15. (Oh) Pretty Woman
16. Love Walks In
17. Beautiful Girls
18. Can't Stop Lovin' You
19. Unchained

Disc Two:
1. Panama
2. Best Of Both Worlds
3. Jamie's Cryin'
4. Runaround
5. I'll Wait
6. Why Can't This Be Love
7. Runnin' With The Devil
8. When It's Love
9. Dancin' In The Street
10. Not Enough
11. Feels So Good
12. Right Now
13. Everybody Wants Some!!
14. Dance The Night Away
15. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (live)
16. Panama (live)
17. Jump (live)

I think that they should drop the three live tracks and add three more studio recordings. I mean, who really would perfer to hear the three live tracks over a studio recording like "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" or "Humans Being"?

Originally posted by dukey
I think that they should drop the three live tracks and add three more studio recordings. I mean, who really would perfer to hear the three live tracks over a studio recording like "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" or "Humans Being"?

I agree wholeheartedly.

Right now, I'm not sure if I'm even buying this. I like Van Hagar, but not nearly as much as the Roth era. Including three live versions of Roth-era songs (that are already on the album in their original incarnations, mind you) is a BIG "****-you" to Roth. And to Van Halen fans.

Not only that, but the three new songs aren't very good.

I'm glad I kept Best Of Volume 1, so I still have "Humans Being," "Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "Me Wise Magic."

I bet it will go out of print soon after this new compilation is released, leaving the two '96 Roth reunion tracks unattainable on disc.

By the way, here's the ugly cover art for Best Of Both Worlds.

I've heard the three new songs and I have to say I really like "Up For Breakfast". It's a fun Van Halen song.

Update: the disc was released last week, and they ****ed it up (due to Eddie being at the controls).

"Finish What Ya Started" doesn't fade out. It just suddenly ends. Now, you're not missing anything; it's the same length as it is on the OU812 album. They just forgot to fade it out, so the end of the track is abrupt.

"Runnin' With The Devil'" cuts off about a second from the beginning.

"Not Enough" apparently really wasn't enough. So not only do you get "Not Enough", but you also get "Strung Out," the track of horrible gobbledygook that precedes it on the Balance album, at the beginning of the track.

Also, the non-chronological tracklisting is really headache inducing. It works for some bands' compilations, but not Van Halen.

They really gave Dave a big "screw you" with the packaging. They only menioned his name twice in the liners (Dave enters the band, Dave leaves the band), and there are no pictures of him.

The Van Halen Best Of Both Worlds collection debuted on the Billboard charts at number 3, making it the lowest debuting VH album (not counting Van Halen III and Live: Right Here, Right Now) in 20 years. Also the total sales for the week were less then 200,000 copies (Balance in 1995 sold over 500,000 copies it's first week out) compared to the nearly 400,000 that Ashlee Simpson's sold the same week. I think that these slow sales can be blamed on the fact that the band had a hits collection out in 1996, and have only recorded one studio album since them. I decided not to get the Best of Both Worlds because I have every Van Halen album and the first hits album. The only new song that I liked was "Up For Breakfast", and I am not buying a two disc CD set for just that song. I feel bad not picking up the CD because VH are one of my all time favorite bands, but the whole package was just sort of a rip off. I just hope the band goes into the studio to record a album of new songs with Sammy. I'll be the first one in line to buy that one!:D

Originally posted by dukey
I just hope the band goes into the studio to record a album of new songs with Sammy.

Or even better - with Dave! :)

Here's the "corrected" Best Of Both Worlds I made last night (reposted from the "Home-made compilations" thread):

Van Halen
Best Of Both Worlds

Disc One:
1. Runnin' With The Devil
2. Eruption
3. You Really Got Me
4. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
5. Ice Cream Man
6. Jamie's Cryin'
7. Beautiful Girls
8. Dance The Night Away
9. And The Cradle Will Rock...
10. Everybody Wants Some!!
11. Unchained
12. Dancing In The Street
13. (Oh) Pretty Woman
14. 1984
15. Jump
16. Panama
17. I'll Wait
18. Hot For Teacher
19. Why Can't This Be Love?
20. Best Of Both Worlds
21. Love Walks In

Disc Two:
1. Dreams
2. When It's Love
3. Finish What Ya Started
4. Feels So Good
5. Poundcake
6. Runaround
7. Right Now
8. Top Of The World
9. Can't Stop Lovin' You
10. Not Enough
11. Humans Being
12. Can't Get This Stuff No More
13. Me Wise Magic
14. It's About Time
15. Up For Breakfast
16. Learning To See

RED = David Lee Roth on vocals
BLUE = Sammy Hagar on vocals

I should add that despite the weak sales of Best Of Both Worlds, I saw VH at one of their Chicago shows two weeks ago and they are still one heck of a live band. And the show was very near to being sold out. I was most impressed with Alex Van Halen's drum playing. I've always felt that following the death of John Bonham in 1980, it was Alex that took the position of the greatest drummer in rock, and I think he remains so to this day. Only Neal Peart of Rush comes close.

I didn't get the CD. I love Van Halen, but I didn't want to get a another greatest hits compilation just for a couple new songs. I have most of the albums and Best of Vol. 1. Luckily, a friend of mine bought the CD and I just burnt the 3 new songs. I do agree that Alex Van Halen is one hell of a drummer. I'm happy Eddie's in good health and the band's back together. I have to agree with the song. It's About Time!

Oh, and i'm crossing my fingers that Van Halen will record a new studio album. That would be great.

I would've gone ahead and added Black And Blue just so it would have every charting single (#34 in 1988). I hate when GH cd's purposely avoid one or two charting singles, making it not 100% complete.
Me, too. :mad:

The Van Halen Best Of Both Worlds collection debuted on the Billboard charts at number 3, making it the lowest debuting VH album (not counting Van Halen III and Live: Right Here, Right Now) in 20 years. Also the total sales for the week were less then 200,000 copies (Balance in 1995 sold over 500,000 copies it's first week out) compared to the nearly 400,000 that Ashlee Simpson's sold the same week. I think that these slow sales can be blamed on the fact that the band had a hits collection out in 1996, and have only recorded one studio album since them. I decided not to get the Best of Both Worlds because I have every Van Halen album and the first hits album. The only new song that I liked was "Up For Breakfast", and I am not buying a two disc CD set for just that song. I feel bad not picking up the CD because VH are one of my all time favorite bands, but the whole package was just sort of a rip off. I just hope the band goes into the studio to record a album of new songs with Sammy. I'll be the first one in line to buy that one!:D

I actually bought Best of Both Worlds less than a week after making this post. :lol: I eventually learned to love all three of the new songs. Though "Up For Breakfast" is still my favorite of the three. :)

^ "Up For Breakfast" is by far the best of the three - I have to admit I don't care for "It's About Time" at all. I'm also not wild about the three live recordings - I really didn't need to hear Sammy use all that profanity, but maybe that's just me. :lol: Anyway, I had no problems with the rest of the set.