''The Best of Both Worlds'' is the second greatest hits album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Van Halen, released on July 20, 2004, on Warner Bros. The compilation features material recorded with lead vocalists

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

and Sammy Hagar, but 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, the album coincided with a

reunion tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

, and certified Platinum. It is the last Van Halen album to feature contributions from Michael Anthony and Hagar.

Background

The compilation features 16 tracks taken from the six

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

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, although he did provide backing vocals for them. Anthony was not an official band member at that point and the songs were already recorded before he rejoined. The bass guitar on the new songs was played by

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

. 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 on the released album.

Track listing

Notes *Track 15 on disc one, "(Oh) Pretty Woman", is the single edit version (with the first snare drum hit removed) not the version that appeared on Diver Down as the album version segued directly from "Intruder", the track just before it on the album. *Track 10 on disc two combines the instrumental "Strung Out" with "Not Enough", although it is shown on the album track list as simply "Not Enough". Both songs were listed as individual tracks on the '' Balance'' album.

Personnel

Van Halen * Sammy Hagar –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

on tracks 2–4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 on disc 1; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10–12, on disc 2,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, backing vocals *

– lead guitar, rhythm guitar,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals, bass on tracks 2-4 on disc 1 * Michael Anthony –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, except on tracks 2–4 on disc 1, backing vocals * Alex Van Halen –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion Additional musicians *

– 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 2Roth was not a member at the time of this release therefore belongs in additional personnel. *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

– backing vocals on tracks 2–4, 14 on disc 1; 10 on disc 2 Production *Compilation

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

: 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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of Both Worlds 2004 greatest hits albums Van Halen compilation albums Warner Records compilation albums