Van Halen: Balance [WARNER]

Why you'll love it

The 1995 vinyl of Balance came in small numbers, as buyers mostly picked CD and cassette. The album went straight in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 295,000 copies in its first week. It went triple platinum in the US and Canada.

This edition

• Warner Bros. 9 45760-1 (1-45760 on the labels), USA, 1995
• George Marino mastered it at Sterling Sound (DMM), STERLING in the runouts
• Lyric/photo insert
• Disc VG+

About the album

Balance came out on 24 January 1995, the fourth and last Van Halen studio album with Sammy Hagar singing. Bruce Fairbairn produced it, mostly at Eddie's 5150 studio, and Sammy cut five of his lead vocals in Vancouver, where Fairbairn lived. Its working title was The Seventh Seal, and the opening track of that name features chanting by the Monks of Gyuto Tantric University.

Glen Wexler shot the LP's cover photo of conjoined twins on a see-saw, and Japan got a different image.

Tracklist

On Warner Bros. (cat# 9 45760-1), first out in 1995.