Van Halen’s “Balance” is experiencing a renaissance, as the Deluxe set is turning into a bestseller again, with a massive Sales Spike of almost 23,000%.
Some of this might be because those that have become Van Halen fans recently may not have known about the album, some of it may also be die hard fans continuing to collect anything new that they can get their hands on. Regardless, of what the reason may be the album is finding new life and the remasters of the old videos are spiking too.
The video for “Not Enough”, which came out last week is already over 100,000 views on YouTube, and Balance has appeared on two Billboard charts, returning to the Top Album Sales list, just shy of the top 10.
Van Halen released the expanded edition of their 1995 on August 15, with the B-side "Crossing Over" and the two songs from the Twister soundtrack, as well as nine unreleased live tracks from the Balance tour.
Eight of the live tracks are from a unique show in London, in 1995, where the band opened for Bon Jovi. Now, this would be the spot where Bon Jovi fans would say, “Hey, Bon Jovi’s a big band”, and they would be right, but that would be like saying Deep Purple is a big band, which they were, but imagine if the Rolling Stones opened for them.
Regardless of how you may feel about the situation an expanded release of Balance is an interesting one, since this was the album that both the band and Sammy Hagar site as the album that broke the relationship of Sammy being in the band and lead to his being replaced by Extreme’s Gary Cherone.
"That was the record where if I said black, Eddie said white, and I'd say, 'Okay, white,' he'd say, 'No, I want black,'" Hagar would admit. "I'd say, 'Okay, well, I wanted black to begin with.' Then Eddie would go, 'Well, I don't know what I want, I'll let you know when I do.' He just wanted the opposite of what I wanted."
Among the songs from Twister is “Humans Being”, which Hagar has continuously stated his disapproval of, and would end up being the final straw to be broken between the two sides. Ironically, for many David Lee Roth, Van Halen fans, it’s one of the most liked Sammy songs.
Van Halen 'Balance' Expanded Edition 2LP/2CD/Blu-ray Track List:
LP One: Original Album: 2023 Remaster
Side One
1. “The Seventh Seal”
2. “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You”
3. “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)”
4. “Amsterdam”
Side Two
5. “Big Fat Money”
6. “Strung Out”
7. “Not Enough”
8. “Aftershock”
9. “Doin’ Time”
LP Two
Side One
10. “Baluchitherium”
11. “Take Me Back (Déjà Vu)”
12. “Feelin’”
Side Two
Etching
CD One: 2023 Remaster
1. “The Seventh Seal”
2. “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You”
3. “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)”
4. “Amsterdam”
5. “Big Fat Money”
6. “Strung Out”
7. “Not Enough”
8. “Aftershock”
9. “Doin’ Time”
10. “Baluchitherium”
11. “Take Me Back (Déjà Vu)”
12/ “Feelin’”
CD Two
1. “Crossing Over”
2. “Humans Being”
3. “Respect The Wind”
Live At Wembley Stadium, London, England (June 24, 1995)
4. “The Seventh Seal” *
5. “Feelin’” *
6. “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” *
7. Guitar Solo *
8. “You Really Got Me” *
9. “When It’s Love” *
10. “Jump” *
11. “Right Now” *
Blu-ray
1. “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)” – Promo Video
2. “Can’t Stop Loving You” – Promo Video
3. “Amsterdam” – Promo Video
4. “Not Enough” – Promo Video
5. “The Seventh Seal” – Live at Target Center, Minneapolis, MN (July 30, 1995) *
6. “Humans Being” – Promo Video