Best Of – Volume I (Van Halen album)

This article is about the Van Halen album. For German album Best Of - Vol.1, see Michael Wendler. For other albums, see The Best Of, Volume 1.
Best Of – Volume I
Greatest hits album by Van Halen
Released October 22, 1996
Recorded 1977–1996
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal
Length 71:33
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen, Mick Jones, Donn Landee, Andy Johns, Bruce Fairbairn, Glen Ballard[1]
Van Halen chronology
Balance
(1995)		 Best of Volume I
(1996)		 Van Halen III
(1998)
Singles from Best Of – Volume I
  1. "Humans Being"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Me Wise Magic"
    Released: 1996
  3. "Can't Get This Stuff No More"
    Released: 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Q link
Robert Christgau[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide link

Best Of – Volume I is the first greatest hits album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1996.

The album does not contain any songs from the band's 1982 album Diver Down. Best Of – Volume I also features "Humans Being," the band's contribution to the Twister soundtrack. The two newly recorded songs, "Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "Me Wise Magic," at the end of the album are with original lead vocalist David Lee Roth. These two songs were released as singles to promote this compilation. They are also the last songs recorded by the original Van Halen lineup of Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Roth and Michael Anthony. The Van Halen brothers would not record again with Roth until the album A Different Kind of Truth, released in 2012. Anthony has not played with Van Halen since the band's 2004 tour.

Initial pressings of the album contained an alternate edit of "Runnin' with the Devil" where the verses, chorus and solos were arranged in a different order than that of the original album version. It was reported that this was accidental and subsequent pressings have replaced this version with the one found on Van Halen. However, some radio stations still play this erroneous version of the song.

The album itself, while not controversial, sparked a great deal of in-band controversy because of the personnel issues surrounding the band at the time. Sammy Hagar, who by this time had been a member of Van Halen for eleven years, equal to the amount of time as the previous lead vocalist, David Lee Roth, left the band in June 1996 due to a number of unclear circumstances. Some sources reported that Hagar was dissatisfied with the decision to issue a "greatest hits" collection, and was instead more inclined to do an entirely new album of new material. In either case, the band announced that Hagar had left the band and the band was instead working with David Lee Roth on new material for inclusion on the disc. This was not to last, as Roth and Eddie Van Halen clashed publicly and the band once again was without a lead singer, before hiring Gary Cherone. All songs except "Humans Being", "Can't Get This Stuff No More", and "Me Wise Magic" are included on the band's subsequent greatest hits album The Best of Both Worlds (2004).

Despite the aforementioned friction, the album went on to win Metal Edge magazine's 1996 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album". Hagar shares the accolade with Roth, since the album features material from both singers. Also, the song "Humans Being" (featured on both the album and the Twister film soundtrack) was voted "Best Song From a Movie Soundtrack."[3]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Original album Length
1. "Eruption"  
Van Halen, 1978 1:42
2. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Van Halen 3:47
3. "Runnin' with the Devil"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Van Halen 3:32
4. "Dance the Night Away"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Van Halen II, 1979 3:04
5. "And the Cradle Will Rock..."  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Women and Children First, 1980 3:31
6. "Unchained"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Fair Warning, 1981 3:27
7. "Jump"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
1984, 1984 4:04
8. "Panama"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
1984 3:31
9. "Why Can't This Be Love"  
5150, 1986 3:45
10. "Dreams"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
5150 4:54
11. "When It's Love"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
OU812, 1988 5:36
12. "Poundcake"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, 1991 5:22
13. "Right Now"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge 5:21
14. "Can't Stop Lovin' You"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Balance, 1995 4:08
15. "Humans Being"  
  • Anthony
  • Hagar
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
Twister soundtrack, 1996 5:14
16. "Can't Get This Stuff No More"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
New recording, 1996 5:16
17. "Me Wise Magic"  
  • Anthony
  • Roth
  • A. Van Halen
  • E. Van Halen
New recording, 1996 6:09
Total length:
 71:33

Personnel

Additional Credits

Charts

Album

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Top 50 Albums[4] 11
Austrian Top 75 Albums[5] 16
Canadian Top Albums[6] 1
Finnish Top 50 Albums[7] 3
German Albums[8] 7
Netherlands Top 100 Albums[9] 12
New Zealand Top 50 Albums[10] 2
Norwegian Top 40 Albums[11] 36
Swedish Top 60 Albums[12] 19
Swiss Top 100 Albums[13] 26
UK Albums Chart[14] 45
US Billboard 200[15] 1
Chart (2002) Peak
position
US Catalog Albums[15] 21
Chart (2008) Peak
position
US Hard Rock Albums[15] 18

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1996 "Humans Being" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1996 "Me Wise Magic" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1997 "Can't Get This Stuff No More" Mainstream Rock Tracks 12

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[16] Platinum 70,000^
Brazil (ABPD)[17] Gold 100,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[18] 3× Platinum 300,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[19] Gold 22,015[19]
Germany (BVMI)[20] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[22] 6× Platinum 6,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Best of Volume I (CD liner). Van Halen. Warner Bros. Records. 1996. 9 46332-2.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1". Robert Christgau.
  3. ↑ Metal Edge, June 1997
  4. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "100 Albums (CD's & Cassettes)" (PHP). RPM. 64 (13). November 11, 1996. ISSN 0315-5994. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Finnish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Van Halen / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Van Halen – Best of – Volume 1 (Album)" (ASP). Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Artist Chart History: Van Halen". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 "Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1 – Van Halen". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  16. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  17. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Van Halen – Best of Van Halen" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  18. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Van Halen – Best of - Volume 1". Music Canada.
  19. 1 2 "Van Halen" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  20. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Van Halen; 'Best of Volume 1')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  21. ↑ "British album certifications – Van Halen – Best of - Vol I". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Best of - Vol I in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Van Halen – Best of, Volume I". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
Recovering the Satellites by Counting Crows		 Billboard 200 number-one album
November 9–15, 1996 		Succeeded by
Anthology 3 by The Beatles
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