Disco de Van Halen: “Balance”

Despite what people will say about Sammy Hagar in Van Halen the truth of the matter is that they put out great albums. I'm not going to say that I'm a bigger Dave fan or a bigger Sammy fan, the truth of the matter is that I'm a Van Halen fan, meaning Eddie, Alex, Mike, Dave, Sammy, or Gary. I honestly love all Van Halen there isn't one song I can say I don't like. But out of the Sammy Hagar era of the band next to 5150 Balance is the best album. First off the production on this album is a lot better than the two previous albums (For Unlwaful Carnal Knowledge and OU812). The band also sounds tighter on this album, Eddie's guitar sound is a lot better than it's been in years, Alex's drums are more solid, Mike sounds great, bass playing and his signature background vocals, and Sammy Hagar's voice is still excellent. It's just a shame that this was their last album together. For the most part the songs on Balance are straight forward hard rock. The album kicks off with The Seventh Seal, this is a great rockin track with excellent lyrics. The sugar coated semi ballad first single, Can't Stop Lovin You is next, don't let my description throw you off, it's a great song. Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) is next, again don't let the title throw you off, this is one of Van Halen's heaviest song to date. The party rock song Amsterdam is next, once again this is another great song, the band sounds awesome. Big Fat Money is another joke song, but it's awesome, great guitar parts. Of course what would a Van Halen album be without instrumentals, there are three on Balance, Strung Out, Doin' Time, and Baluchitherium. They are all pretty good, Strung Out features Eddie playing with the strings on a piano, Strung Out is a great song with an awesome drum solo, and Baluchitherium has more of a song structure than the other ones, the band sounds great. They also have a really great ballad on this album, Not Enough is one of their best ballads ever, this ranks up there with When It's Love and Love Walks In. This song is followed by a great rocker called Aftershock, Eddie's guitar is amazing and the power in Alex's drums can't be matched by anyone. Take Me Back (deja vu) is another ballad, while Not Enough was piano based this track is based on acoustic guitar. The album ends with Feelin' this song can't really be considered a ballad but it isn't a rocker either. I can't say enough about this track, the lyrics are great, very meaningful, Sammy's voice is great, and Eddie's best solo on the album is on this song. Balance is an essential album for a Van Halen fan, it's just a shame that we never got to hear a followup to it, but either way I'm excited to hear their next album.

"Balance" was an album I absolutely hated when it first came out in early 1995. Grunge/alternative was in full swing and I expected Van Halen to deliver some good dumbed-down arena rock to take me away from all the plodding, whiny, self-important tripe being put out in that era. Instead, I got Van Halen's most intellectual album to date, with a lot of moody pieces that seemed to be trying to mimic the climate of the times. Over time though I grew to like it somewhat, although I think it is still pretty low on my list of favorite VH albums.

Ironically, the two songs that qualify as dumbed-down arena rock, "Big Fat Money" and "Amsterdam" are actually the weakest on the album. Musically, "Amsterdam" is an excellent (if predictable) VH song, but the lyrics - "Wam bam, oh Amsterdam, stones you like nothing else can" - pure poetry there, Hagar. And "Big Fat Money" is just plain lame on all levels. Van Halen proved they could do quasi-speed metal with "Get Up" from "5150", but this is just a sloppy mess. In press interviews for promoting this album Hagar described "Big Fat Money" as "this album's `Panama' or `Why Can't This Be Love'," but let me tell you, he was just plain WRONG.

"Can't Stop Loving You", as the title suggests, is equally trite but this one works well. It's unashamedly pop, with a chime-sounding guitar tone similar to Def Leppard's later work.

Keyboards are intentionally low key here, with only the organic ballad "Not Enough" getting a bit of piano treatment. "Not Enough" is hardly the best ballad VH has ever done, but it's at least a nice change from the synth-heavy stuff they had been churning out since the "1984" days. "Take Me Back" is another stripped-down ballad that works well.

"Aftershock" has a verse similar to the 1970 R&B tune "Get Ready" by Rare Earth. Beyond that, it's a pretty by-the-numbers VH tune, meaning it blows away virtually everything by any other band of a similar ilk, but it's still got a been-there-done-that feel to it.

"Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" is your basic heady-lyrics song, supposedly inspired by the suicide of Kurt Cobain. It was a decent first single, but not among Van Halen's finest work.

The rest of it - "Seventh Seal", "Feelin'", and the three (?!?) instrumentals "Baluchiterum", "Doin' Time" and "Strung Out" all fill things out nicely, but overall this is a rather unspectacular VH album. Better than "OU812", "Van Halen 3", and I would probably even hold it up against "Van Halen II" (my least favorite disc from the Roth years), but it was a pretty big letdown after the wait for something new and exciting in the midst of all the dreary and depressing grunge all over the radio in 1995.

I have been a huge VH fan for years and while I may get a lot of flack for liking Sammy more than Dave I will not make this review (as some of my fellow reviewers have done) about why Sammy is better than Dave or vice versa. Balance is a rocking cd that I personally enjoy every track on it. To date this is only 1 of 2 cds that I can pop in and listen from the beggining track to the end track and love all the songs. Some of VH's most iconic Hagar era songs are found on this cd but the only one missing is "Right Now", to get that song you need to pick up For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge or Best of: Volume 1. Do not be swayed by reviewers who can only accept one singer and view any change as trash...this cd is awesome and you won't regret picking it up.

I am utterly tired of reading and hearing the complaints that the so-called Van Halen fans are slinging at the Balance album. The people who chide the lyrics specifically and the CD in general should quit reading recent articles in various music magazines about the album and offer some creative criticism for a change. Quit repeating quotes from Eddie after the recent split with Sammy, and dare to speak your own mind. There are some real jewels on the Balance album including "The Seventh Seal," and most especially "Aftershock." For those critics who blast the lyrics in "Amsterdam," you've probably never been there and have no clue as to the song's meaning. "Take Me Back" is timeless and "Feelin'" is classic Eddie. Just a final word for all of the naysayers-Van Halen is, and will always be about the music first and lyrics second. Who buys a VH record to be intellectually enlightened by lyrical prose? Listen because of the music; when you do, you will realize that Balance represents one of VH's best records.

I must confess from the onset that I grew up in the 80's mega band/metal era and VH is my all-time favorite band. Therefore it's not surprising that I have all of thier albums and could never guess how many times I have listened to them.

Having said that, I listened to this album at least a dozen times before throwing my 2 cents in here and can honestly say that this is as good as any album Van Halen has ever recorded.

As Boston said in trying to describe their first release, "Listen to the record." This album is a must for all real rockers!