''Best Of – Volume I'' is the first greatest hits album by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

, released on October 22, 1996. The album does not contain any songs from the band's 1982 album ''

Diver Down ''Diver Down'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Van Halen and was released on April 14, 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the album chart in the United States and had, by 1998, sold four million copies in the United States. Background ...

''. ''Best Of – Volume I'' also features "

Humans Being "Humans Being" is a song recorded and contributed by the rock band Van Halen for the film ''Twister''. The song marks the last recording to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar before his departure from the band in June 1996. Background "Humans Being ...

", the band's contribution to the ''

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...

'' soundtrack. The two newly recorded songs, " Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "

Me Wise Magic "Me Wise Magic" is a song by Van Halen that appears on the rock band's 1996 compilation album '' Best Of – Volume I'' and became the band's 13th No. 1 ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Track, maintaining the No. 1 position for 6 weeks during the a ...

", at the end of the album are with original lead vocalist

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 ...

. 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 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 ...

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the Rock music, rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie Van Halen, Eddie, ...

, 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 "Runnin' with the Devil" is a song by the American hard rock band Van Halen. Released as the second single from the band's 1978 eponymous debut album. The song lyrics were inspired by the funk band Ohio Players 1974 song "Runnin' from the De ...

" 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 ''

''. 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 Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

, 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, it was announced that Hagar had left the band and they began 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 Gary Francis Caine Cherone ( ; born July 26, 1961) is an American rock singer and songwriter. Cherone is known for his work as the lead vocalist of the Boston rock group Extreme and Van Halen. He has also released solo recordings. In 2007, he ...

. 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 ''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. Zenbu Media acquired ''Metal Edge'' in February 2007. Both ''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 ''

'' film soundtrack) was voted "Best Song from a Movie Soundtrack".''

'', June 1997

Track listing

Personnel

Van Halen *

–

lead vocal 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 the ...

s (tracks 2–8, 16 & 17) *

- lead vocals (tracks 9–15) *

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

keyboard 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 vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

s * Michael Anthony - bass, backing vocals *

–

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Production

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...

– producer (tracks 16, 17) *

Bruce Fairbairn Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...

– producer (tracks 14, 15) *

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew "Andy" Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' ''Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's ''Marquee Moon'' (19 ...

– producer (tracks 12, 13) * Mick Jones – producer (tracks 9, 10) * Don Landee –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

(tracks 1–11), producer (tracks 9–11) *Erwin Musper – engineer (track 15) *

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American record producer. Among the acts he has a long relationship with are the rock bands Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced multiple criticall ...

– producer (tracks 1–8, 12, 13) *Van Halen – producer (tracks 9–13)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of Volume 01 Van Halen compilation albums 1996 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Andy Johns Albums produced by Bruce Fairbairn Albums produced by Donn Landee Albums produced by Glen Ballard Albums produced by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Albums produced by Ted Templeman Warner Records compilation albums Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders