Van Halen Mcmlxxxiv

Van Halen didn't release a live album until 1993, by which time David Lee Roth had long since left the group. Tokyo Dome in Concert arrived some 22 years later, by which time Diamond Dave had returned to the fold and Michael Anthony had left, replaced by Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang…

The power struggle within Van Halen was often painted as David Lee Roth's ego running out of control – a theory that was easy enough to believe given his outsized charisma – but in retrospect, it seems evident that Eddie Van Halen wanted respect to go along with his gargantuan fame, and Roth wasn't willing to play. Bizarrely enough, Sammy Hagar – the former Montrose lead singer who had carved out a successful solo career – was ready to play, possibly because the Red Rocker was never afraid of being earnest, nor was he afraid of synthesizers, for that matter…

Fair Warning was such a dark, intense record that Van Halen almost had no choice but to lighten up on their next album, and 1982's Diver Down is indeed much lighter than its predecessor. In many ways, it's a return to the early albums, heavy on covers and party anthems, but where those records were rough and exuberant – they felt like the work of the world's best bar band just made good, which is, of course, kind of what they were – this is undoubtedly the work of a finely honed band who has only grown tighter and heavier since their debut…

The somber black and white cover could have been a knowing allusion to Meet the Beatles!, but it's really a signal that Van Halen is playing it for keeps on OU812, their second record with Sammy Hagar. Indeed, the striking thing about OU812 is that all its humor is distilled into a silly punny title, because even the party tunes here – and there are many – are performed with a dogged, determined vibe…

An odd catalog repackaging timed to coincide with the spring 2015 release of Tokyo Dome in Concert, Van Halen's first-ever live album with David Lee Roth, Deluxe contains that two-disc set and adds the new 2015 remasters of Van Halen and 1984, all housed in a simple little box. It's an affordable way to get good-sounding remasters of two of VH's best, along with a solid latter-day live album, but the lack of so many other great Van Halen records only makes you wonder why this couldn't feature all of the band's Warner albums with Diamond Dave.

An odd catalog repackaging timed to coincide with the spring 2015 release of Tokyo Dome in Concert, Van Halen's first-ever live album with David Lee Roth, Deluxe contains that two-disc set and adds the new 2015 remasters of Van Halen and 1984, all housed in a simple little box. It's an affordable way to get good-sounding remasters of two of VH's best, along with a solid latter-day live album, but the lack of so many other great Van Halen records only makes you wonder why this couldn't feature all of the band's Warner albums with Diamond Dave.