Album · Compilation · 30 years old this year
Best Of, Volume I
Best Of, Volume I was Van Halen's first greatest hits collection, released in October 1996. It draws on the band's studio albums with both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, skipping only Diver Down, and adds "Humans Being", their contribution to the Twister soundtrack. Early pressings carried an accidental alternate edit of "Runnin' with the Devil", with the verses, choruses and solos in a different order. Later pressings restored the original album version.
The real draw is the pair of new songs at the end, "Can't Get This Stuff No More" and "Me Wise Magic", both with Roth back on vocals. They were issued as singles and turned out to be the last recordings by the original line-up of Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Roth and Michael Anthony. Hagar had objected to a hits package and left in June, and Roth's return soon fell apart too. The collection still won Metal Edge's 1996 Readers' Choice Award for best hits or compilation album.
Best Of, Volume I: tracklist, credits and charts
17 tracks · 1:12:13Tracklist
- 1EruptionAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen1:42
- 2Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout LoveAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:47
- 3Runnin’ With the DevilAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:32
- 4Dance the Night AwayAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:04
- 5And the Cradle Will Rock…Anthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:31
- 6UnchainedAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:27
- 7JumpAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen4:04
- 8PanamaAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen3:31
- 9Why Can’t This Be LoveAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen3:45
- 10DreamsAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen4:54
- 11When It’s LoveAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen5:36
- 12PoundcakeAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen5:22
- 13Right NowAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen5:21
- 14Can’t Stop Lovin’ YouAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen4:08
- 15Humans BeingAnthony, Hagar, Halen, Halen5:10
- 16Can’t Get This Stuff No MoreAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen5:14
- 17Me Wise MagicAnthony, Roth, Halen, Halen6:05
- Produced by
- Ted Templeman, Mick Jones, Donn Landee, Van Halen, Andy Johns, Bruce Fairbairn, Glen Ballard
- Recorded at
- Sunset Sound, 5150
- Recorded
- 1977–1996
- Mixed by
- Andy Johns, Michael Scott, Ted Templeman, Mike Fraser
- Mixed at
- Westlake Audio, Royaltone Studios
- Engineered by
- Donn Landee, Ken Deane, Lee Herschberg, Andy Johns, Michael Scott, Erwin Musper
- Labels
- Warner Music Brasil, Warner Bros.
- Length
- 1:12:13
Line-up
- Edward Van Halen · electric guitar, electric sitar, background vocals, guitar, keyboard
- Michael Anthony · electric bass guitar, background vocals, bass guitar, bass
- Alex Van Halen · drums (drum set), percussion, background vocals
- David Lee Roth · lead vocals, vocals
- Sammy Hagar · acoustic guitar, guitar, lead vocals, electric guitar, vocals
Singles
- “Humans Being” · July 1996
- “Me Wise Magic” · November 1996
- “Jump” · December 1996 (Japan)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1996–2020 | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1996–2020 | 45 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1996–2020 | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1996–2020 | 2 |
| Finnish Albums · 1996–2020 | 3 |
| German Albums · 1996–2020 | 7 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1996–2020 | 11 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 1996–2020 | 11 |
| Dutch Albums · 1996–2020 | 12 |
| Austrian Albums · 1996–2020 | 16 |
All 15 charts
| Swedish Albums · 1996–2020 | 19 |
| Swiss Albums · 1996–2020 | 26 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1996–2020 | 36 |
| Scottish Albums · 1996–2020 | 58 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 1996–2020 | 194 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina · 1996 | Gold |
| Australia · 1997 | Platinum |
| Brazil · 1998 | Gold |
| Canada | 2× Platinum |
| Finland | Gold |
| Germany | Gold |
| Japan · 1996 | 2× Platinum |
| New Zealand | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2019 | Gold |
| United States | 3× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
44.0
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
18
ListenBrainz listeners
46k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1996-10-22 vs 1996-10-17 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 17 October 1996 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 22 October 1996 | |
| Wikidata | 1996 | |
| US release | 22 October 1996 | earliest US date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | AU | Warner Music Brasil | 093624633228 | other |
| 1996 | CA | Warner Bros. Records | 093624633228 | other |
| 17 October 1996 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674090020 | original |
| 18 October 1996 | DE | Warner Bros. Records | 093624647423 | other |
| 22 October 1996 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 093624633228 | other |
| November 1996 | ZA | Warner Bros. Records | 6001491381825 | other |
| 15 October 1998 | JP | — | 4943674227624 | other |
| 13 June 2007 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674072873 | other |
| 16 September 2008 | XW | Warner Bros. Records | 093624633266 | other |
| 1 April 2009 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674088386 | other |
| 8 December 2010 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674102204 | other |
| 31 March 2015 | CA | Rhino | 603497891009 | other |
| 2016 | XW | Rhino | 603497891085 | other |
| 31 May 2017 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674258703 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1400×1400 | upscaled: minor: best source 1400x1400, upscaled to 1500 (x1.07) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |