Masochist Music Review: Van Halen - Balance

                What can I say, I’m a masochist when it comes to music.  I like to have complete catalogs when it comes to my favorite musicians.  Sometimes this is a good thing (Alice Cooper, AC/DC) but oftentimes it’s not.  Not only that, but I used to fall into the trap of hearing one or two great songs and purchasing a whole album because of it, which sometimes produced a diamond, but usually only coal.  During this series, we will dwell on some of the albums I have in my collection that are downright terrible.  I will re-listen to them all and give you my impression of them.

Now this is only my opinion, so don’t take it as gospel.  If you like a particular album in this series, let me know, we’ll open up a discussion about it.  I’m always open to discussing the merits of any particular album, and if you have any suggestions (and especially if you have the album itself and are willing to share your views) then let me know and I’d be happy to add it to the list.

Album Name: Balance

Artist:  Van Halen

Release Date: 1995

Why you bought it:  I’m a completist, and the little that I’d heard from the album was okay.  It sounded like For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge but a tad lighter.  I wasn’t sold on the direction but I wanted to give it a try.

First impressions:  It started out well but deteriorated exponentially over the course of the album, to the point where I could almost hear how Van Halen III could be a natural progression in terms of musical direction. The songs were definitely lighter, more poppy than any of its predecessors, which weren’t terrible, at least on this album as it was on Van Halen III. 

Impressions upon listening to it recently:  Balance is still as poppy as I remember it.  I don’t remember there being so many instrumentals on it before, but there they are.  The only one that is even halfway decent is “Balucitherium”, but even that is no “Eruption”.  Other than that, it’s an ok album with not enough in the way of rock solid songs that you would expect from Van Halen.  Any sense of cohesion and fun between the band and Sammy Hagar just doesn’t seem to be there. 

Best Track:  “Balucitherium” is a decent instrumental.  “The Seventh Seal” and “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” are two popped up versions of Van Halen tracks.   “Take Me Back (Déjà vu)” feels like it could fit on the 5150 album.

Worst Track:  None of the songs are too terrible, but the album is full of a bunch of mediocre tracks that really don’t inspire like Van Halen’s previous albums did.

Any saving grace?:  It has some good moments.  Maybe they are good moments based on their compatriots on the track list, but they are good nonetheless.  This is in no way the seminal Van Halen record, but it is not as much of a black eye as I once thought it to be.

Was it worth the purchase?:  Yeah, it’s not great but it’s a decent album.  I don’t know if I would pay full price for this one, but I’m fine spending a couple bucks on it.