It is interesting. I was a big VH fan growing up but I don't know if it is classic rock radio or what but these guys don't inspire like they used to. They have some good songs but a lot of their music is filler.

They are staples on classic rock radio but I always thought their music was very basic and kind of vanilla.

I always thought they got more credit than they deserved mainly because classic rock radio seems to love them. They have some good songs, but plenty of filler as well. Roth is a brilliant entertainer but annoying at times and can't sing.

Van Halen had only a handful of good songs. That and the fact that they were the forefathers of the Sunset Strip scene that yielded most of the terrible hair bands makes them one of the most over-rated bands to get a record deal in my book. The drummer was good though!

Some of their stuff I really like, but some of the stuff like Ice Cream Man bores me to tears.

i am so excited that they got back with DLR,they were so much fun with him.my faves are:Diver Down and Fair Warning.

Takin' it down to a three because Eddie can't play. At least the rest of the band makes up for him.

UPDATE: Wise, we have never had beef and I'm not gonna make any beef, but I am curious as to why you have been hostile to me lately. Even Chrisrianna and I have made peace and just agreed not to dicuss guitar at all. What's up? I put down my crusade banner on this matter already...

Van Halen (DLR) is the greatest Hard Rock band of All-Time, period. They are the top selling band from the U.S., not just in Hard Rock, but any genre. All the Diamond Dave albums are classics and some of the Sammy ones are quality to. There is no denying Van Halen is one of the greatest bands in rock history and should have been in the Hall of Fame earlier then they were, because other members of the Hall got in on their first chance when they shouldn't have like Jimi Hendrix who should still be waiting because of his lack of talent playing the guitar.

They used to be Gods, now they are Spinal Tap. It's so sad, They should have bowed out around 1988 and they would have kept thier reputation intact. I see them playing Vegas around 2020. Gag.

Only a website dominated by yanks could have Van Halen #1. They ain't even metal. Roth's weedy, wobbly, voice summed 'em up.

Congratulation! Youre now in the Rock and Roll HOF club. The club that every musician dreamed of. It's not what you did today,5 yrs ago, or how many grammys you've won. It's about what you did for the past 25 yrs. Congratulation your dream has come true!! The biggest thing ever, it's every musician dream.

I have to agree with Jed1000. The Van Halen brothers and Michael Anthony seemed to be pretty good musicians (although, in fairness, I'm speaking as a non-musician). At least in those early days, Roth had a certain atavistic sexual charisma (although, in fairness, I'm speaking as a heterosexual male). As a group, I thought the bulk of their stuff was fairly pedestrian but some of their songs stood out. I always thought the combination of the Van Halen brothers with David Lee Roth worked like the combination of Leopold and Loeb, or Smith and Hickock. Separately, they aren't all that much. Together, at their best, they were occasionally quite potent. Never great, but sometimes very good ("Everybody Wants Some" is a personal favorite song of mine). As a solo act, Roth is revealed as a talentless hack living on past glory. As for the Van Halen brothers, their pomposity and delusions of grandeur (what in hell was the story with the M and M's?) long ago become too tiresome, too dull and dreary, for me at least. They, too, live on their past glory. And the truth is, when you compare their past glory to the glory of truly majestic artists like Hendrix or Dylan or Jim Morrison (at his best), it really doesn't amount to much. In essence, Van Halen had some good rock songs, a ton of mediocre rock songs, and a tsunami-sized surfeit of overinflated ego. The fact that they're no longer a force in the music industry (if they even still exist as a group, with a new lead singer no one has ever heard of) causes me not to lose a moment of sleep at night...

Three stars for the group... one star for David Lee Roth.

I will give this band 2 stars ONLY because of Eddie Van Halen, he is an excellent guitarist. There really is nothing exceptional about this group other than him. Their songs are a total snoozefest and the lyrics to most of them have little meaning and what is up with that moronic song, "JUMP"? I used to get so angry at MTV because they always overplayed that video and one can handle only so much of that David Lee Roth...what a wanker...

The musicians in the band are very talented, indeed the Van Halen brothers are two of the best guitarist/drummers in the world. David Lee Roth, on the other hand... but, they've never been the same without him!
Van Halen have made some great music and are a very good band, they ain't talkin' 'bout love! (...)

As long as DLR is fronting the band, VH should be on top. I like Sammy as a person (through interviews, don't know him personally), but he doesn't represent VH the way that I want VH to remain in my mind. VH1 and Fair Warning are my favorites. I also agree that GnR should be up at the top, as well.

Best guitar player of all time and one of the ten best drummers of all time. I think they are the greatest American RNR band ever. 9th all time best selling band in the US and 19th best selling artist of all time in the US. The only band to have a top five album with three different singers. They became better song writers with Sammy Hagar. David Lee Roth was the better performer and better marketer for the band, but Sammy was the better singer and better musician. Gary Cherone, probably the best vocalist of the three but worst song writer, walked in to a losing situation with fans. That being said, Van Halen III was not as bad of an album as sales may indicate. The driving force of this band was and always will be Edward. His song writing and guitar work could make James Blunt a number one singer with Van Halen.

You can't classify these guys as metal at all. Hard rock tilting on the edge of pop, yes. Dance the Night Away helped bridged hard rock and top 40 - whether that's a good or a bad thing is debatable, nonetheless they did it. Comparing the Roth era to the Hagar era is like comparing two totally different bands, IMO. I think Eddie became a better overall songwriter during the Hagar years (Right Now, Why Can't This be Love, etc.) But there's still something about that first album (VH1) when they were just some raw talented punks who didn't give a rip and just went for it. What a guitar sound! Even Michael Anthony's distinct harmonies set them apart from alot of the other bands. Fair Warning was their best.

I'll save myself some keystrokes here. Eddie Van Halen = one of the very BEST and INFLUENTIAL hard rock/metal guitar pioneers in rock history. 'Nuff said.

The David Lee Roth years were the best. Their debut snd 1984 were their best albums.

Great use of the cowbell on Dance the Night Away and Black & Blue. Give it to these guys--they rock. And they've got a sense of humor about it all. I liked Sammy possibly more than Dave. His ego was a bit much.

Van Halen was the second best rock group of the 80's after G n' R I say this because Guns and roses never went towards the Pop Music. I really LOVE Van Halen but it kills me that they started to mix pop into their music with keyboards and synthesizers. with VH1 and VH2 they were ALL hard rock music Women and Children first was still good but Diver Down started teh Downwards Spiral towards the true Rock Music fans ultimate hell... pop music. 1984 had two pop songs but other then taht it was great but it just led the way for VH to turn into Journey or Abba. O.K. maybe not Abba but close. If they stayed Hard Rock teh entire time they would be as popular with teens nowadays as kids like Zepp. or G n R. People get a bad vibe thinking that its not metal after hearing their pop songs but the truth is taht they were the greatest rock band of the time 1978-1984 and the pop songs were soooo Popular that everyone hears those and start to hate the band. for turning that way

Eddie the best Gitar player? that could be debated about forever. BUt he sure was amazing. Van Halen and Van Halen II were the best alon with1984 in aclose third. They put out some great music in their hay-day

The David Lee Roth era was indeed the best for this band! Too bad they cant sort their differences for the sake of the fans!

Some toppermost albums like the 1st, '1984' and 'Women and children first. But even in the DLR period they came out with mediocrities like 'Diver down' and 'Fair warning'. Then with Sammy Hagar they started to sound like REO Speedwagon, Journey and all that sh*t with '5150' and 'OU182'. As for 'Balance' and 'Van Halen III' less said the better.

David Lee Roth era VH was the best.

with david lee roth they were van halen but with sammy they were ok i got nothing to say about why they hired gary sharone

one of the best bands of all time but these lose points in my book for having Gary Cherone as the front man back in 98,I mean he was the guy who did More Than Words.

Van Halen, is not metal. I have to agree with several others on here. Its pop rock. To much ego in this bunch. I saw them live, and was glad I won the tickets and didnt pay for them. So if Van Halen is the only music played in your car, make sure you take the CD out of the player when you take your mom's car back to her.

They deserve 4 stars, like AC/DC. For the songs Jump and What Dreams Are Made Of. Ahh...dreams...

The first 2 albums showed promise undreamt of,then they let us down a bit more each year,until they bottomed out with Sammy Hagar.They're more pop than Heavy Metal.I can see David Lee Roth playing to Atlantic City or Vegas fogies in no time.

It's hard to review a band that has had at least two distinct lives. Nevertheless, Van Halen established its credentials with its debut release and, therefore, its that line-up (with David Lee Roth) that is the one that matters. Van Halen really never matched its first self-titled release from 1978. There really isn't a weak track off of that album, and it established the band's use of hard rock cover songs (eg You Really Got Me). However, the original line-up failed to approach this quality level until 1984 (1984), though this last Roth era release was much more pop oriented. After Sammy Hagar joined with the release of 5150 (1986), the band had grown a bit tired and lost with the rise of New Wave and the over saturation of hair bands. While Van Halen released better music than these hair bands, it became increasingly clear that the group had jumped the shark.

to the guys who just dig the music, this ain't for you. hehe. you other guys...wtf ?? look at who the hell you're yapping about. look at this band, man. the whole band. if you're bitching & whining about any of em i gotta ax ya. what the hell are YOU doing ?? hehe. now eddie. you gonna yap about eddie ?? you done bumped yo godt damn head. look at what these guys have done, then kindly stfu. hehe.

Van Halen is the greatest. Saw them live last month. Only problem was Eddie was drunk or something and didn't move around. But they were fantastic. Van Halen is the ONLY music played in my car.

best with DLR

calling this sh*t metal is a joke

Running with the devil first album first side first song. I've been a fan since. A true hard core van halen fan has no preference as far as DLR or Hagar because both had their day and their hits. If you want to hear either one just pick up the cd otherwise anything you say has been said by enough ppl to make it more than redundant. What is important is the music and thats been a driving force since the 70s. Hands down you cannot argue with their staying power. One more thing if you don't even like this genre of music why would you post any comment or rating? VAN HALEN ROCKS!!!!!!!!

I miss the golden years with Gary Cherone....everything before was just crap!

Eddie's the man when it comes to being the most infleuntial rock guitarist. VH 1, Women & Children First and 1984 are all 5 star albums. The others are more patchy. On balance they were better DLR era.

The greatest band ever-especially with Sammy!

ultimate line up i agree eddie van halen - greatest guitarist ever however i think they could have done a little better in the later years

5 stars for Dave, 0 for Sammy.

overrated plain and simple and ok band at best.

They are a true 5 out of 5 as a live act.

Isn't there a NO-Stars rating? For this band, there should be. Morons making moronic music for moronic fans.

for 3 lead singers & songs

early songs were quite good newer songs the opposite

Perhaps THE party band. With Eddie setting the pace as one of the world's elite guitarists, David Lee Roth's bad boy vocals and second-to-none showmanship, and Micheal and Alex doing a first-class job on the bass and drums, Van Halen just couldn't miss. All their albums in the Diamond Dave days were huge. There's not a single song I don't like on the first Van Halen album. I remember hearing the news with my friends that Dave was going to leave; it was as if something was taken from us. As most people have said, it's been downhill since then. Sammy was okay with Van Halen, but is a better solo artist. Gary Cherone just didn't gel with Van Halen's sound. I'd like to see Dave and Van Halen do it again, but I'm not holding my breath.

I mean the original line up.

What a great band VH was. Yes, I said, "was" and here's why: Yes, Gary Cherone didn't work out so who does Eddie have to turn to now? He's already disenchanted some longtime fans with that move back in '97 (and that VHIII album) and I don't think he has the heart or the guts to do that again to the Van Halen name. But, he doesn't really want to ask Dave back, even though that would please a lot of VH purists. But then Dave still acts like he did back in 1984, like an egotistical jerk, and he still thinks he can sing like he did during his VH heydey. Dave is totally kidding himself. And even though Sammy was a good choice, they're (Eddie, Alex vs. Sammy)still bickering about who should apologize. To top all that off, Eddie's battling throat cancer and a bitter divorce so I'm kind of seeing VH head off into the sunset, unless some miracle collaboration happens in time for the R&R Hall Of Fame Induction, in which their eligible for next year...we'll see.

I LOVE VH, I met them and saw them twice in concert with Gary Cherone as leader.

if sammy were still in i'd give 5 stars. van halen 3 was good......good & terrible

I had the privilege of seeing Van Halen in their prime; 1982 Diver Down Tour. So much raw talent, so much unbridled energy. Dave at his finest, before Eddie got sidetracked with synthesizers. The consumate hard rock band. Those days will never be recreated. Anybody even considering Sammy Hagar or that Extreme pansy half as good as Dave has their head in the sand, or somewhere else...

"Jump" is played way too much. They are another overrated group. I think their only decent song is "Running with the Devil."

One of the greatest bands of all time. Eddie re-invented the guitar. He is one of the most coppied guitarist in rocks history. Listen to their creativity. No other band can go from Secrets to The Full Bug on the same album. Listen and you will understand....

simply put van halen is one of the best band's ever. only a few create the excitement of vh, either on stage or when they come the radio.only perhaps queen,zeppelin or hank william's jr. have the sheer presence vh pocess. i saw them once with sammy......awesome.i would like to see dave come back and the guy's getting along again!!i think they could create some more true classics!!!

awesome music.

One of the most influencial bands of the 80s. Every party that I went to had at least one album of thiers. Eddie is one of the best guitarist in the world. My kids also love their music and none of them are over 9 years of age.

This rating is base purely on the Roth years. Long live Diamond Dave.

Best with Dave. Ok with Sammy. Sammy much better on his own. Gary much better with Extreme. The band still has potential, especially since I hear they are bringing backe the Diamond One. Van Halen needs Dave much more than he needs them. If I were Dave I would walk up to Eddie and say one word regarding a reunion: HALF!.

Van halen kicks ass now that they don't have Cherone anymore. Bring back Dave!

Loved their old stuff more than the new stuff, but they still rock!!

Just listen to "Humans Being" from the TWISTER soundtrack... its almost as much fun as "Jump"!!! Yeah, Dave & Sammy are both a couple of morons... everybody knows its always been fleet-fingered Eddie and the other musicians who carried this band. But if ya gotta have a loud-mouth lead singer, who better than Diamond Dave or the Red Rocker?! (Gary who???) Why doesn't Van Halen pull a "GooGoo Dolls" and have multiple lead singers?! Dave and Sammy would have to do all their crotch-grabbing inside locked cages at opposite ends of the stage, so they don't kill each other and the rest of the band.

Van Halen rock. Killer music. Great lyrics.

They weren't too terribly impressive with Roth. They've absolutely sucked without him.