By trying to give the
David Lee Roth and
Sammy Hagar eras equal space,
The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1 winds up a little uneven. The first eight songs run through several of
Diamond Dave's biggest songs -- "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "Runnin' With the Devil," "And the Cradle Will Rock," "Jump," and "Panama." It's hard to argue with any of the choices, yet significant songs like "You Really Got Me," "Beautiful Girls," "(Oh) Pretty Woman," "I'll Wait," and "Hot for Teacher" are missing. Similarly, the
Sammy era has many big hits -- "Why Can't This Be Love," "Dreams," "When It's Love," and "Right Now" -- but skips over hits like "Love Walks In," "Black and Blue," and "Finish What Ya Started." Clearly, the collection would have been better served if it had been assembled as a double-disc set, with
Dave and
Sammy getting a disc apiece. Furthermore, the much-hyped reunion tracks with
Roth, "Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "Me Wise Magic," are a slight disappointment; the band sounds good, but neither track contains a memorable hook. Nevertheless,
Best Of, Vol. 1 remains a good single-disc encapsulation of
Van Halen's career, even if it isn't a definitive retrospective. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine