Van Halen: David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar.

Personnel: Sammy Hagar (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); David Lee Roth (vocals); Alex Van Halen (drums, percussion, background vocals); Michael Anthony (background vocals).

Audio Remasterer: Stephen Marcussen.

Liner Note Author: David Wild.

Photographer: Kevin Westenberg.

Bursting forth in the late 1970s, Van Halen made its mark by melding the hammering wallop of hard rock with an iconoclastic approach to the guitar. With striking virtuosity, Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing succeeded in turning the heads and dropping the jaws of a wide range of listeners. Matched with the acrobatic energy of frontman David Lee Roth and the formidable rhythm section of bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen, these combined elements added up to Van Halen's hugely success musical formula.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS is a two-disc overview of more than 25 years of Van Halen recordings. The set contains a few of the now-standard new songs included in such offerings. Placed on the first disc, this trio of tunes finds VH's second singer, Sammy Hagar, back on board (he'd left in '96 when the band planned to record with Roth again). In fact, the compilation's title (taken from the Hagar-era song) is a reference to the band's two major eras, as demarcated by their distinctly different frontmen. The result is a collection that features raucous, hyperactive songs with Roth ("Hot for Teacher," "Jump," "Unchained") and soaring ballads and mid-tempo anthems with Hagar ("Dreams," "Right Now," "Finish What Ya Started").