Producers: Ted Templeman, Van Halen, Mick Jones, Donn Landee, Andy Johns, Bruce Fairbairn, Glenn Ballard.

Engineers: Donn Landee, Erwin Musper.

Digitally remastered by Chris Bellman (Bernie Grundman Studios, Los Angeles, California).

Personnel: David Lee Roth (vocals).

Audio Remasterer: Chris Bellman.

Photographer: Michael Llewellyn.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Eddie Van Halen; Michael Anthony ; Alex Van Halen; Sammy Hagar.

In theory, a Van Halen greatest-hits collection should be easy to assemble, but Best Of, Vol. 1 proves that isn't the case. By trying to give the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar eras equal space, they wind up not representing either particularly well. 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. Also, the presence of "Humans Being," one of Van Halen's worst tracks, is an insult, considering how many great songs are missing. 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

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

Almost evenly split between tracks that feature glammy showman David Lee Roth and those that feature earthy screecher Sammy Hagar, BEST OF VOLUME I seems designed to let this pioneering hard-rock band's fans compare and contrast between its two frontmen. As if to drive the exercise home, BEST OF features three tunes cut in '96--two of them with Roth, who had been estranged from the band since 1985, and one with Hagar ("Humans Being," originally released on the soundtrack to TWISTER).

Otherwise, BEST OF presents the hits in chronological order, beginning with the unadorned, aggressive sound of the early Roth material. Powered by guitarist Eddie Van Halen's hammer-on notes and orchestral pyrotechnics, and lightened up by Roth's used-car-salesman-on-a-bender persona, "Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love" and "Runnin' With The Devil" are as close to pure, perfect hard rock as anyone is ever likely to come. The early '80s found the band incorporating synthesizers (played by Eddie) and a pop sensibility, resulting in megahits like "Jump."

Things changed again when Hagar replaced Roth and took the band further from its roots, toward an expansive new sound with broader new arrangements, heard here in such pop hits as "Dreams" and "Right Now." Refusing to tip the balance toward either David Lee diehards or Sammy-come-latelys, BEST OF contains enough Van Halen milestones to keep anyone satisfied.