Comments for Van Halen, Balance

Uh oh....are the guys getting old? No defining track as per usual: no solid ballad or crunhing rock piece (with the possible exception of Don't Tell Me). Disappointing after such a long wait. There is no "Love Walks In", "When It's Love", "Judgement Day", or "Right Now" here. The guitar solo is truly hideous - is it a joke? - and "Baluchitherium" is headache-inducing. Will the real Van Halen please step forward?

yea, I don't know what other people were listening to but I thought this was one of their best albums. And as far as the guitar solo, it kicked ass! who ever the hell put down that crap about the new ablum should be put in an institution! damn, i am not sure what you were smoking when you wrote that. the day you can EVER play, write, enen sing like ED is the day some shit like the flaming "flaming LIps" can play music instead of playing with themselves. so don't knock the 'boys' 'cause you don't kow shit about music quality!

By far Van Halens best album to date! VH just keeps getting stronger. A good mixture of all types of songs. Not a disappointment at all.

An absolutely incredible piece of art! Every time I hear "Don't tell me" and "Not enough", chills go down my spine! VH is just getting better and better... like they say: If I'm wrong, then I'll pay for it If I'm right, yeah you're gonna hear about it...

I think the new VH album is very, very exciting. What I mean by that is every time I listen to it I seem to pick up something new that just seems to blow me away. I think Eddie is definately maturing with age, yet he still knows what sounds good, LOUD GUITAR!! It is interesting though, that the first time I listened to the disc I really thought it was a dissapointment, but it has really grown on me, I feel that it is their most powerful effort yet, I can't wait till the live shows! By the way, what does Balluchtherium mean????

Once again its simply said that god is ed. By the way Blaucheterium is a big dinasour (the biggest of them all) Thats why ed called the solo blaucheterium. By the way I have 1 front row ticket to van halen in buffalo if anyone is interested, write me.

This is without a doubt the best album that has come out in quite a few years, probabably since FUCK came out. Eddie is still the greatest. And what's with all this punk shit? I thought Eddie killed that 20 years ago. I guess he'll have to do it again!

Van Halen is getting better with age. Keep on rock'en

Balance displays the power and nature of Van Halen. Doubtly thier best ever.

THIS IS THE BEST MUSIC RELEASED IN THE LAST 2 YEARS BY ANY BAND. KEEP GUYS! SAMPSON

The best Van Halen's album! And this is the best album I'we ever heard in the past years.

The song Amsterdam shows that Van Halen has truely been to our capitolcity ! The red rocker kicks ass again!

The greatest album of the greatest group...

Is not the best album of them, but they still are the greatest. Did you see they in Europe in summer? Shit to the fucking Bon Jovi. !!!!!!!!!!! 5150 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie Van Halen is so over rated, people think he's one of the best guitarists "ha ha ha ha" well i've got somthing to say to you "get your head out of your ass!" if you want to hear real guitaring listing to Jimi Hendrix, Ty Tabour, Johny Winters, Eric Clapton even Cortny Love is better than big usless old halen

Another display of Eddie Van Halens pathetic guitar abilities, I mean it must be pretty fucking hard to hit all the strings at once as fast as you can, but hey as long as dip shits like you buy the albums they produce who cares? Well it drives me nuts Halen sucks listen to some real guitarists like Ty Tabour, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Mick Ambrhams, Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, or anyone but Halen, no way!

Eddie Van Halen has again captured the plant life intellect of his rodies. With his non-existant talent and his stuttering guitar style. I must admit in exterson how his abuility to make mindless Fucks like you think he has even a microscopic amount of talent is pretty fucking impresive.

when the last comment writer has learned to spell, we will talk about the undeniable musical talent of Mr Edward Van Halen.

This is the best Van Halen album ever. Their secret gig in Arnhem (Netherlands) was great and their Nijmegen performance was outstanding!! Van Halen is still the nr. 1 rock band!! Stop talking about Dave, the Red Rocker rulez!!!

Balance is a decent album from Van Halen. Eddie plays decently, but not as good as he used to. In my opinion, his best solos as well as riffs were in the early part of his career. As to the idiots who think he stinks, they can kiss it. Fair Warning's solo's and rifts are some of the best I've heard. He definitely knows how to rip his guitar. To compare Van Halen to Ty Tabour or Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton is ridiculous because they have contrasting styles. If you want super-talent, listen to Joe Satriani or Eric Johnson. If you can play Eric Johnson's intro to Cliffs of Dover as smoothly and proficiently as he can, let alone write something like that, then you have the write to criticize. Otherwise, shut the hell up!!

Yeah, they're getting old. But fuck you Jimi. As if Eric Clapton was ever the man?!!Jimi hendrix wasn't bad, but in no way can he be compared to Eddie.And so what if he doesn't get off on cuttin' it up.He can still kick your ass!Balance is their art you don't have to like it.

This is one of their best. Amsterdam is real hot. You should try looking for CROSSING OVER a song that was not put on the record but is damn great! A truly new Van Halen.

The "Balance" album is the first record to bring me back to a record store in a long time. Balance is one helluva CD, this band continues to make history! Van Halen also keeps getting stronger & sustains a level of success that, all of you out there will agree, is a level of success most other artists can only dream about. I think its interesting that some of the "negative" comments recorded on this page are so antagonistic & bitter. Edward Van Halen undeniably enjoys the highest respect from all facets of the music industry. The idiot who wrote that mentioned Frank Zappa is such a superior musician should recognize that Frank had on numerous occasions applauded Eddie's skills. Moreover read comments from Alan Holdsworth, Quincy Jones, Steve Lukather, Les Paul, Mo Ostin, Slash, George Benson, Brian May, etc., etc., not to mention the MILLIONS of devoted listeners around the world that continue supporting the finest rock band in the world! I love the fact that people get pissed off at Edward's continued popularity. The one argument they can NEVER overcome is that you can't argue with success!!!

Ok, Van Halen is an established premium quality rock band. They've been churning out the tunes for years, but come on, guys, there's nothing new here! I have respect for the bands courage not to follow trends in the music industry, but without blazing new trails the stuff gets old real fast. There are some good songs on balance, like Amsterdam and ahhh.... the rest are just o.k. My advice, time warp back to 1993 and the Live album when the greatest music was put to CD. They put on one hell of a live show. And Eddie should quit smoking, now that he's off the booze.

True Van Halen fans do not believe all the crap the non-halen fans have to say about one of rocks most talented bands.

I must say that this the boys best work since 5150. I saw them 3 times on this tour and they rocked. the new material justed rocked live ans the classic VH sounded even better. Balance is just another incredible creation from the world's best Rock n Roll band ever.

good stuff! By far the best sound ever heard from van halen

after a heavy and maledic F.U.C.K Van Halen strikes again. My turn on song among all van halen's latests figures on BALANCE and as no surprise for many of you, itis the SEVENTH SEAL. I can't describe what i felt when they played it live at the MONTREAL'S FORUM CAUSE I WAS DRIVEN NUMB.

Beeing in the presence of the gods of rock, feeding my soul with perfect harmony that's what VH is all about. Pumping up my head before surfing or skiing , i recall that guitar in my airs and i feel myself in heaven.

Hey Dave, frank and jimi WERE decent, but their dead. and courtney hole, i mean love, is a skank that thrives off of kurt's popularity. My penis can play better music than her.

I am absolutely apalled by the number of mindless comments on this page. Anyone who has ever even picked up a guitar must at least have respect for Edward. How you assinine people can make such blatently ridiculous comments is beyond me. Edward is one of the best if not the best guitarists ever to grace the world with his music. I am absolutely baffeled at how people can mention names such as Clapton and Hendrix with great reverence and then slam Eddie. They are all in the same league.

What an album! The stadout song of the album is Definitly "Don't Tell Me..."! The first time I ever heard the song I was anxsiously awaiting the album to come out in a few weeks and didn't know the single was out...I was in my car driving shortly after new years, and flipped my radio only to hear (what I NOW know as) Eddie's familiar guitar drone in unison with Bass. I litterally almost ran off the road!! I said to my girlfriend "Who is this, they kick ass!!!!" When the drums kicked in I could detect a hint of VH in the air, but a second later, when Sammy said "It's O.K..." It became obvious. It is just one of those songs that SMACKS you in the face and says "...hey, come on man, wake up!" Not only is the music in this song some of the most powerful Eddie has written, but so are Sammy's lyrics! What a great combination. Oh...And what about AMSTERDAM!... what a groove!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought Balance was a great record!!!A far as those comments above, there full of shit. Anybody who play guitar or knows anything about music who doesn't believe Eddie is one of the greatest and most innovative guitarists of all time is full of shit!!!He totally changed the way people looked at the guitar and how they played it more than any other guitarist. Just look at how many people copy him.

AMSTERDAM-Great jam. BIG FAT MONEY-Sort of a "Hot For Teacher" of the 90's.

I haven't had a chance to hear the whole album yet, but what I have heard has been disappointing. With the release of FUCK I thought Van Hagar has finally started rockin', but all the releases off of balance have been disappointing. Amsterdam is repetitive, and the "love" songs are boring and uninspired.

Van Hagar is an absolute joke! Who the hell said that there were cool songs like 'When its Love?'. If you're a true rock music fan you want to hear substance. Not this same tired recycled garbage. And to Ed- try playing something else live other than 'Eruption'. You would think that a guy who's given so much credit for ripping off other guitarists riffs could play something original, not something from 18 years ago. Never even heard the whole album, its the worst piece of garbage ever made. Music doesn't have style, personality and the lyrics blow. BTW- My copy of Balance is for sale. Real cheap(25 cents asking too much?) or willing to trade for something cool.

Anybody who thinks 'Balance' is great.....GET SOME TASTE IN MUSIC! This is THE WORST album EVER! Even Bruce Fairbairn couldn't save this sorry ass piece of trash!

Don't anybody EVER say that Ed is up to par w/me or Jimi Hendrix! He sucks! He ripped off techniques from ALL of the truly great guitarists.

Yeah I know I've ripped off all of guitar licks from the TRUE masters. But when you sit around all day and prey to God that David Lee Roth takes all of the attention away from my shitty playing. To be honest with all of you, Dave is the one truly responsible for the band's success. I really hate Sammy tremendously. I keep telling him that he has to lose that beerbelly, but he just tells me what to do w/ myself. When Dave was here, everyday was exciting! We always were thinking of great innovating things. All Sammy wants to do is write ballads and act like high school nerds in public. I realize that my guitar playing sucks tremendously but that's because Sammy's lyrics are so lame. Dave always wrote such power-driven rock songs that allowed me to cut loose while not overdoing it. Sammy's crap is so damn basic that any of you could play it one-handed. Dave always created the band's musicality as well as personality. Sammy is just a overweight moron living off my name.

We really suck! There's reallt nothing more to say. I write crap, Ed plays crap. I wish I had never joined this band. DLR was right in saying that VH is just a 'name'. There is definitely no substance to this music whatsoever. I really hate Valerie too!

I love Van Halen !

fuckoff Sammy! You're an asshole! Try writing something cool. Stop living off my husband's name! Thats MY job!

Yo Dave,jimi,and you other twits who were chicken shit to leave your address, and hide behind someone else's name, get real, Van Halen kicks ASS, and whoever doesn't agree needs to get taste in music, art, and pure rock and roll. Or maybe you need to get laid. Eddie Van Halen is the king of the guitar era and no one can mess with him. So piss off!

Van Halen sucks BIG TIME! I bet your fave is 'Right Now'. Yeah, real cool song. WHAT A JOKE!

Van Halen is THE worst band! C'mon, this crap doesn't sound any different than the previous garbage. Just rehashed trash! And Ed, you're supposed to be this great guitarist, but then you go on tour and you play Eruption as your solo?! After all these years, you can't come up with anything better? What a horrible guitarist!

I just had to say that this album is the Biggest piece of garbage ever produced! Nice try Bruce F.! But there ain't no helpin' this crap!

thanks for the great music toronto wnats you back soon!

This is a great album musically and spiritually. The band has matured. This is evident in their lyrics. Eddie Van Halen shows the world why he is the best guitarist alive. Alex Van Halen is great on drums and percussion. Record sales speak for themselves!

One of Van Halen's best. Keep rockin'!

O.K, whatever lamos keep leaving fake names and trashing VH , would you at least have the BALZ to leave your real adress!!!! Get a life is all I can say. You obviously don't like the musical genius that is Van Halen, so why don't you go right your own music, sell 70 million records, and gain one of the most heartfelt/loyal group of fans of YOUR music...tehn you will have the RIGHT to trash Eddie and da boyz(but u will still be dumbasses for doing it!) GO LICK YOUR BUMHOLES! Van Halen is one of the (if not the )greatest bands of all time!!!(Oh...and stop voting zeros into teh ratings catagory, it's pretty obvious someone has done it)

BALANCE ROCKS AND IS THE BEST ALBUM OUT THERE. HEY AND I WISH david lee roth WOULD STOP SUBMITTING THOSE FAKE MESSAGES GET A LIFE dave.

van halen is the greatest band ever.

I THINK EDDIE VAN HALEN SPLIT THE YAM SUFF OF GUITAR,AND ANYONE WHO CAN DENY THAT SUCKS ROTTEN KNEIDLACH!!!!!!!

Considering some of the mindless drivel I have read so far (those of you who enjoy driveling on and one know who you are, the others have no need to be offended). Anyway, my humble point of view comes from the perspective of one who is old (and bold) enough to say that I was listening to VH when their first album came out. I was in my 2nd year of high school in those days. Anyway, the new album is difficult for me to enjoy at this point...but it may grow on me. I would like to at least say that it does seem that something has been missing ever since Roth left the band. It seems that some of the earlier recording will continue to live on as classics. I am not really sure about the new material, however. One fact can be stated and that is that without Van Halen, we would not have so many of these Want-to-be no-talents filling up our concert halls and studios. Later...

Skattula, It may be a mistake to state that Alex is one of the greatest drummers with Neil Peart out there.

This is a great CD... No David Lee crap here...Sammy,Come Back. David could not sing a love song to save his ass.

VH is the best by far of any band I have ever seen.. They Fucked up letting Sammy get away !!!!!

The Seventh Seal is hard, but Sammy Hagar sucks other men's dicks.

This album is the dogs bollocks. This is the album that got me into Van Halen and now I own most of their albums. Personally I think it is not as good as the first album, but it still rocks hard and Eddie is god.

Balance is definately a good name for the album.Never has Van Halen sounded so together.A definite ass-kicker!!

Great way to end your career Sammy- you old fart, dopehead, pansy. This album sucks!!!!!!!. Even though I hate Sammy and how his voice sounds worse than mine, I could listen to 5150, Ou812, and For Unlawful. But this album is stocked in both the record stores and the CD exchange stores. Thank God Sammy is gone. You all need to give Gary your support. He will bring the band back to rock and roll, not this pop-music crap.

Not a great album. I can count two really good songs ("Don't Tell Me" and "Can't Stop Loving You"), and three more decent ones ("The Seventh Seal", "Feelin'" and "After Shock") plus one half-good stab at Michael Bolton, which was fittingly titled Not Enough. "Strung out" is an overrated piece of self-indulgence, and the other instrumentals are equally lame. And I don't understand how people can say "Amsterdam" is a good song. C'mon, it sounds like Phil Collins having a bad day! Get real. Haven't heard VH3....is it any better than this stuff?

IT IS REALLY SAD T0 SEE THE "MUD-SLINGING" THAT SAMMY HAS TO SY ABOUT THE ALBUMS THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN WHILE WITH VAN HALEN. ONE THING THAT SAMMY NEED'S TO REMEMBER IS THAT "HE TOO" WAS PART OF THIS BAND AND "HE TOO" WAS PART IN THE OUTCOME OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. THERE ARE ONLY 5 PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD THAT REALLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THAT LEAD TO SAMMY LEAVING THE BAND. THOSE PEOPLE: SAMMY- EDDIE- MICHAEL- ALEX- GOD!!!!! BE PROUD THAT YOU DO HAVE THE MUSICAL TALENT THAT GIVES YOU THE ABILITY TO MAKE MUSIC, EVEN THOUGH YOU THINK IT'S CRAPPY. LET BY-GONE'S BE BY-GONE'S!!!!!!

I bought this cd on chance when it came out new and other then the first to songs and that other slow song this cd sucked. I found it to be repetitive and boring. I gave it away. Now I won''t buy any new metal cds until I hear them first.

Yet another excellent album from Van Halen.

To me Balance is the best VH album. Not totally different, but quite new. "Feeling" has the best solo of this album from far. "Amsterdam" is not bad, but a bit flat and repetitive. "The seventh seal", "Aftershock", "Big fat money" are good pieces of art too! Now all the assholes who write shit about Balance listen to me: compare the old VH songs (Roth with his sow voice, Eddie using always the same guitar style), with a song like Aftershock (amazing guitar riffs and solos, amazing drums, amazing vocals) and you will come to this conclusion: this is their best release! This is music! Eddie merged with his guitar and gives a powerful composition. Now I must say this too: "Can't stop loving you" is the greatest SHIT that came out from that band, and "Take me back" sounds like Bryan Addams shit or anything excepted good music. Respect to VH anyway.

Let me say: I don't know what some of you guys are listening to, but thank God you aren't real critics. This is by far VH's most concentrated and solid effort. People really fail to recognize how well rounded this album is. There is a little of everything this album that stands right up and screams: "This is the Van Halen we have always been!" Every band matures, and these aren't the nineteen year old kids that wrote (Hot for the Teacher, and Eruption.) These guys are way beyond that. They just keep growing. Hagar's singing sounds better on this album, EVH's guitar playing sounds better and more in your face, and Alex is inpecible as usual. What more do you need in a rock band? At least the jealousy problem is gone thanks to Roth being gone, and this has really helped this band establish themselves as a premium quality rock group with some great musicians. EVH is even doing some real solid and emotional piano work on this album, which was a real stretch from anything that was done with Roth. Plain and simple: this isn't an 80's glam rock band anymore, so let go of that shit and mature with the music if you haven't got to where the music is.

Oh, and for you guys who don't know what "Baluchitherium" means. Read this!! Baluchitherium , extinct primitive rhinoceros, belonging to the genus Baluchitherium, of the Oligocene epoch, fossilized bones of which were found in central Asia. It had an estimated shoulder height of nearly 18 ft (5.5 m) and a weight of about 10 tons, and is believed to have been the largest land mammal of all time. The baluchitherium is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Perissodactyla, family Rhinocerotidae. Those of you that are overeducated idiots, quit misinforming people with bull-crap information that is not correct.

The fact is that Van Halen is probably one of the greatest rock bands that ever was, or will be. And who ever said that Eddy had crappy solo's is probably still listening to Good Charlote and simple Plan. You are seriously on major pot dude. The only p;erson, that can even come close to Van Halen, and maybe better is Carlos Santana. You need to start listening to real music!

jimi is a god damn fool

van halen greatest rock band of all time,eddie van halen king of kings and lord of lords on guitar,NO ONE can touch him past or present PERIOD!alex van halen one of or even the best all around drummer in the world.david lee roth the greatest showman on earth EVER!