Review of Van Halen: Video Hits - Volume 1

Introduction

Since their eponymous debut in 1978, Van Halen have sold over 56 million albums in the USA alone. In that part of the world, the surname that Dutch immigrants Eddie (guitar) and Alex (drums) share is a household one, yet despite such 1980s hits as "Jump" and "Why Can`t This Be Love", Van Halen simply aren`t as celebrated here as they are in their adopted home.

Away from their own commercial success, Van Halen are also regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of rock. Eddie Van Halen is a virtuoso guitarist, who popularised the "tapping" of the fretboard with two hands, a technique which soon became a staple of 80s rock. He also provided the solo for Michael Jackson`s "Beat It" - for free, no less - which gave Jackson the crossover radio play that launched his ultra-stardom. In 1985, the band also broke the hard rock mould by releasing "Jump" - which was a #1 all over the world, and #7 in the UK - creating a trend for bands to work with synthesisers that would last until the advent of grunge.

"Video Hits: Volume 1" is a collection of 14 of the band`s best-known videos, predominantly featuring Sammy Hagar (1985-1996, 2004) as lead vocalist. The band`s other vocalists, David Lee Roth (1978-1985) and Gary Cherone (1996-1999) are also present.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is of good quality. Neither the transfer to DVD, nor the NTSC to PAL process, is the issue here, but rather the quality of the source material. Although more investment clearly went into later videos, it is obvious that the band did not wish to go over-the-top on producing Thriller-esque videos, especially in the 1980s. In fact, the video for "Jump" was conceived by David Lee Roth as a means of showing Michael Jackson that you didn`t have to spend $1m to make a video masterpiece, and Roth later claimed that the video cost $500 and that the band had edited it themselves.

Still, whilst it does not appear that any restoration was done, these videos have never looked better than they do here.

Audio

Audio is presented in Linear PCM, and is rather good. It is interesting that we are afforded the PCM track here, as I was expecting a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. As can be expected with PCM, audio quality is comparable to the CD release, which means no real DVD thrills, but a solid mix which more than does the job. Again, like CD, the subwoofer will get a nice workout with a bit of volume.

Features

Disappointingly, there are no extras on this disc.

Conclusion

At DVD Reviewer, it is no secret that Van Halen is my favourite band. As such, I love all of the fourteen tracks available here, even the much-maligned "Without You", with vocals by former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone. However, that will not stop me criticising what frankly is a lazy release.

With this greatest hits package, Warner Brothers had the opportunity to go all out and release every video that Van Halen had done up to this point. That would have been a treat for fans who had seen the videos for "(Oh) Pretty Woman" and "Amsterdam" ludicrously banned by MTV. Instead, Warners have failed to even release a dual-layer disc of material, and only included three David Lee Roth tracks, all taken from the "1984" album, which was the final of six with Roth at the helm.

That said, for a fan of this genre - and perhaps anyone who grew up in the 1980s - much of the music here is stellar. "Jump" is often unfairly labelled as synthesiser rock, but not only was it an incredibly important in bringing rock music to the mainstream, but the song itself is much more musically complicated than it first appears. "Hot For Teacher" and "Poundcake" are classic rockers, "Don`t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" sees the band at their grungiest, and "Right Now" (so often abused in US political campaigns) is as close to a classical music tribute as rock gets.

Overall, the disappointment in the DVD is not the music, nor the videos themselves. It is in the (lack of) effort that was clearly put into this collection. Standing "Video Hits, Volume 1" up against Queen`s "Greatest Hits 1" DVD is, quite frankly, embarrassing.