Van Halen: Video Hits Vol. 1

I love this collection of there videos. "Jump" is my best music video in that video collection. Alex influenced me to play the drums and Eddie is just the best guitarist that ever lived. They rock and will never die. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FELLAS.

What a great collection of a great band, but you have to FF through anything Gary Cherone is on, it's just a terrible era that so many of us true fans wish would have never happened. If you can get your hands on a used copy, I'd recommend it, certainly not worth the retail price they ask for in stores.

Unfortunately, this video compilation was not put together by a true Van Halen fan. It appears that some dude at Warner Bros. just haphazardly slapped together some videos to go alongside the release of the disappointing 1996 "Van Halen: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" CD.

The first three videos ("Jump", "Panama", "Hot for Teacher") have rightfully taken their place as some of the all-time greatest music videos. The DIY, powerfully simple "Jump", the goofy "Panama" and the outrageously hilarious "Hot for Teacher" (featuring a persecuted nerd named Waldo, child stand-ins for Dave, Eddie, Alex & Michael, and three of the most ridiculously gorgeous "teachers" you'll ever see: two clad in skimpy bikinis, one as a dominatrix) make this DVD worth watching.

Then, if you have the stomach for it, watch Van Halen metamorphosize into cheeseball "Van Hagar" once the Red Rocker takes over and then metamorphosize again into the horrific "Van Has-Been" as Gary Cherone takes the helm.

It was mildly interesting to see the Van Hagar video of their performance of the putrid "Dreams" at the Whisky-a-Go-Go, which is NOT located in downtown L.A. (as one Amazon reviewer erroneously puts it), but about 10 miles west of there on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, CA. Actually, I only included this paragraph as a geography lesson. Sorry.

Also noteworthy is the absence of the bizarre, low-budget "Oh! Pretty Woman" video dating from 1982 which features Roth as Napoleon Bonaparte and the rest of the band looking like members of the Village People. It's not a glaring omission, but something worth noting.

This collection is okay but it misses many videos from both eras. I think if bands put out "greatest hits" videos, showing only half of their hit videos, it is a let down to their fans and to the casual watcher. This set only includes the 3 hit Roth Era videos from 1984. Notably missing is their MTV banned "Pretty Woman" video, the live video for "Mean Streets" and "Unchained", and any of their unforgetable appearance at the '83 US Festival. Missing from Van Hagar series is Live Without a Net videos, and "Feels So Good", "Top Of the World", and "Amsterdam". Perhaps those will be included on the second volume?

These have to be the best collection of music videos by a single band. I love to watch these over and over again. It's true that they could've used a little more from the early years of Roth, but I was still happy with what I got, because I like Hagar better. From Jump to Without You this is a must see DVD for Van Halen fans(Non-Hagar people, beware though). 10/10