Ranking the '80s albums of Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and Sammy Hagar (w/Martin Popoff) 

DLR's-"Damn Good" off "Skyscraper" is so underappreciated and IMO is as great as any song off any of these releases!

Secrets is my fav VH song. That song and Little Guitars make Diver Down a memorable album.

Good point by Martin regarding the sound on 5150, where he says that people complain about the 80s sound although no one else recorded/mixed like that in the 80s. I would make the point that it actually is an 80s sound, but in the sense that it impressively shows how far analogue recording technology had progressed by then, and what amazing results it could produce, before digital recordings brought everything to naught again.

The reason why Diver Down sold 4 million copies is from Pretty Woman and Dancing In The Streets. The hits sells records. Great episode.

Of all these types of ranking shows combining different artists, this is the one where I like most of the albums. 14. HSAS-HSAS 13. Skyscraper-DLR 12. Danger Zone-Hagar 11. VOA-Hagar 10. Diver Down-VH 9. 1984-VH 8. 5150-VH 7. OU812-VH 6. I Never Said Goodbye-Hagar 5. Three Lock Box-Hagar 4. Eat ‘Em and Smile-DLR 3. Standing Hampton -Hagar 2. Women and Children First-VH 1. Fair Warning-VH

I really like "Hina" from Skyscraper, great to listen to on headphones.

Thanks for this show, Pete and Martin!! 1) Fair Warning 2) 1984 3) Standing Hampton 4) 5150

The Skyscraper album is phenomenal I think. Can’t believe so many people seem to dislike it. I hope someday it will be recognized for the art it is.

Van Halen has so many fantastic deep cuts. Romeo Delight. One foot out the door. House of pain. You ever hear them doing House of pain on RU-vid? It's one of their oldest songs. Listen the version that Gene Simmons produced. Sooo damn heavy.

It would be nice to see a ranking of the discography of Tony Macalpine, Pete.... just a sug. .... greetings from Costa Rica!!!

Pete's and Martin's rankings👇: Pete's ranking: 14. Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box 13. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper 12. Sammy Hagar - I never said Goodbye 11. OU812 - Van Halen 10. Sammy Hagar - Voa 9. Van Halen - Diver Down 8. Sammy Hagar - Danger Zone 7. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton 6. Van Halen - 5150 5. David Lee Roth - Eat Em' and Smile 4. HSAS - Through the Fire 3. Van Halen - 1984 2. Van Halen - Women and Children First 1. Van Halen - Fair Warning Martin's ranking 14. Sammy Hagar - I never said goodbye 13. Sammy Hagar - Voa 12. David Lee Roth - Eat Em' and Smile 11. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper 10. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton 9. HSAS - Through the Fire 8. Sammy Hagar - Danger Zone 7. Van Halen - OU812 6. Sammy Hagar - Three Lock Box 5. Van Halen - Diver Down 4. Van Halen - 5150 3. Van Halen - Women and Children First 2. Van Halen - Fair Warning 1. Van Halen - 1984 Great show guys👏🙋

As much as it got hate from some people, I really enjoyed the 2002 Roth/Hagar tour. Both picked a great setlist, had a great band, and were still at the top of their game on vocals. It's a shame how much they hate each other now and are constantly starting petty drama.

Fair warning and 1984 are my top 2

If you read Ted Templeman's book, he explains that Diver Down was put together after the success of the Pretty Woman video. It became such a hit that the label wanted an album to put it on. So that is why IMO it is so rushed or jammed together. I dont think they were prepared to do a full effort

"Eat e'm and Smile" touches on being a Prog album. It has many of the same hallmarks as english Prog, such as virtuoso musicians, complex multi instrumental interplay and archaic nostalgia interludes and storytelling. Roths vaudeville schtick just isnt taken as being culturally interesting as Peter Gabriel's pantomime.

45:30 The weird thing is that Martin likes AC/DC (yes?) and both those songs are derived from AC/DC: "Best of Both Worlds" is inspired by "Highway to Hell"; "Panama" is inspired by "Dog Eat Dog". My defence of "Panama" is the opening and especially the slow B-section. It is fabulous, and there is one chord in there (if they were tuned to standard, it is a jazzy F chord against an E minor tonality) near 2m40s, before "we're running a bit hot tonight". That chord is deeply weird and unites the "hits" of the album with the Allan-Holdsworth-esque moments of the deep cuts. It is a truly bizarre, sophisticated moment in the middle of a party song. Great video, though: I enjoy these immensely.

1984 is amazing! There are only two keyboard heavy songs on it and I love em both. I’ll Wait is a great tune co-written by Michael McDonald.

1. 5150 2. Fair Warning 3. 1984 4. OU812 5. Three Lock Box 6. Standing Hampton 7. Women and Children First 8. VOA 9. Diver Down 10. Skyscraper

Except for Martin putting ‘Em and Smile too low IMO, I was very pleasantly surprised by both of your ratings. Little Guitars intro and the song is my fave VH song. Thank you both for such a fun episode.

Mean Street really reminds me of early '70's Jeff Beck Group. Love that track

W.A.C F. is my favorite album of all-time by anyone! Skyscraper, 1984, and Fair Warning are all in my top 10-15 as well. I LOVE half of EEAS. Martin, I ordered your book right away, and it's great!

Steve Vai's best work on EEAS in my opinion, wicked album!

I can't think of another band that's had a better six album run than the mighty VH. Some might include the first album with Sammy in that chronology, extending it to seven, and fair enough, but I'm an old school VH hardcore purist, and the band morphed into something very different with Sammy, something not as good. Women and Children First is my favorite of the six, but they are all rock and roll masterpieces, and I was happy to see both Martin and Pete landing on VH for the top spots. 🍻🤘

Good timing, OU812 celebrates a birthday today. I Never Said Goodbye did go gold, all of his Geffen solo albums certified, even Unboxed went gold. Standing Hampton eventually went platinum. Maybe the difference in Ted Templeman's production after 1984 was the departure of Donn Landee as engineer.

Sammy Hagar - 9 On a 10 Scale 1976 was the Heaviest Metal album of the 1970s. Urban Guerilla, and Silver Lights are just devastatingly Heavy.

I’m seeing Sammy Hagar at Budweiser stadium in Toronto this summer. Opening band is loverboy

One for the vault fellas. It's Saturday morning and I've already watched it twice. One of my favorite concert memories is Sammy playing Autzen stadium as the middle act with Journey & Bryan Adam's in support of 'Three Lock Box'. When Sammy and his band started 'Heavy Metal' with the monstrous crunch of that opening riff every fist went in air. 🔊🎵✊️

This is going to be great! I want to throw my ranking up here before I watch to see how I match up with you guys. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be way off with Pete's list but, I might have some of Martin's list in mine ;^) : 14) Skyscraper (I was not happy when this dropped and it hasn't aged well for me either) 13) Danger Zone (Early Sammy was always a little light for my taste) 12) Through the Fire (There's some killer playing and singing on here) 11) VOA (This era of Sammy had better songs and more balls) 10) Diver Down (This would be top three with two more originals and without the filler) 09) Three Lock Box (This was Sammy hitting on all cylinders) 08) I Never Said Goodbye (Great songs on here! Eddie's influence on this is undeniable) 07) Eat 'em and Smile (This had a couple of covers too many but, Billy and Steve made this incredible) 06) Standing Hampton (My favorite Sammy Hagar album! I spent many a night playing this one) 05) 1984 (I would have had this one #1 35 years ago. Too many listens back in the day. I never reach for it ) 04) 5150 (This one has risen for me over the years. I liked it when it came out but, I expected more) 03) 0u812 (This one delivered the goods for me. Great songs and mature, professional musicianship!) 02) Women and Children First (I've always loved this album. A timeless Masterpiece that sounds even better on the remastered Collection II) 01) Fair Warning (This one has been my #1 Halen album since it's release. It takes me back home everytime!)

As usual , agree with pete on his top 2. I also agree Fair Warning is the best, but it is front loaded

Nice to see the solo work from David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar represented. While I understand that they naturally fall in the shadow of a band like Van Halen. There are great stuff to be found!

Women and Children First Fair Warning Eat 'em and Smile Diver Down Standing Hampton 1984

Apparently my list was irrelevant to the actual topic. All my favorite albums were from the 1970s. 1. Van Halen - Women and Children First 2. Sammy Hagar - Mean Machine 3. Van Halen - Fair Warning 4. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton 5. Sammy Hagar - VOA 6. David Lee Roth - Eat Em and Smile 7. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper 8. Hsas 9. Van Halen - Diver Down ( I love the song Where Have All the Good times Gone, if the other songs sounded similar I would rank it higher, I don't like anything else from the album. It's not whether it's a cover , it's just the only riff Rocker in the style of DOA etc. ) 10. Van Halen - 5150 11. David Lee Roth - Crazy From the Heat 12 . Sammy Hagar - Never Say Goodbye 13. Van Halen - O28120( haven't owned it for 20 years, never really liked many of the songs, so I might have the title wrong) 14. Sammy Hagar - 3 Lock Box 15. Van Halen - 1984 ( I absolutely hate Jump, one of my least favorite songs of all time, but the rest of the album wasn't bad ) These are the only 1980s albums that I have heard from these artists, so I can't rank them if they have more material. I got a pretty good idea, that I probably wouldn't like them considering that I prefer everyone's early material. Too poppy

OU812 smokes!

Alex is playing 4 on the floor pretty often, doesn’t seem to bother Martin there. But now I’m distracted by it after learning the term. Thank you, Martin 😅

Van Halen....................... Rules

How about a rank of the whole DLR solo catalog?

Popoff and Pardo are at it again with another of what personal thinking calls a blender episode though the ingredients for this at have ingredients with a more apparent underlying theme. Again, don't have all the albums to rank them all but the personal top three today would include Van Halen albums of MCMLXXXIV [1984]. Fair Warning and Women & Children First. There definitely is a fascination to watching/listening these episodes as Martin and Pete give their thoughts on multitudinous catalogues. This one particularly fascinating since more familiar with the albums discussed. Thanks once again, gents, for taking on such a task and providing us with another great time in the Friday Funhouse. There ya go!

An episode ranking the 70's Van Halen, Sammy Hagar Montrose and 70's Sammy Hagar would be awesome.

5150 was released in March 1986. It sounds like a summer album, but it wasn’t exactly based on the release date. I have a soft spot for Diver Down. It was the first VH album I bought somewhat near to its release when I was 12 in 1982 based on the popularity of the Pretty Woman single. It’s certainly flawed as both of you say, but, as Pete expressed, that handful of originals are amazing.

Oh - I like the sftd. (or I Never Say Goodbye) Sammy Hagar - a pretty decent album with some really good songs on it. I like it maybe even more than OU812, that followed it.

The Full Bug is my favorite VH song.

Actually VH's version of Pretty Woman with Intruder as an into is the best version of this song. Dancing in the Street was covered so many times, still VH's version is the best. They should have done more covers at the time. Btw Panama is great, that spooky part in the middle, terrific. Jump is my least favorite on 1984.

I remember being at the Pontiac Silverdome for the Monsters of Rock tour. The first time I heard the song Black and Blue. It was totally awesome and Van Halen blew everyone off the stage. I played the ballz of this. The Scorpions and Dokken were great also.

Not sure how any of the Roth albums can rank lower than Sammy’s solo stuff but I agree that the production could be better

Sammy and Neil Schon did record two songs together on one of Sammy’s later solo albums from 2013, “Sammy Hagar & Friends.”

100% agree with you both about "Panama"

1. Fair Warning 2. Danger Zone 3. Standing Hampton 4. Women and Children First 5. Through the Fire 6. 1984 7. 5150 8. VOA 9. Diver Down 10. Eat 'Em and Smile 11. OU812 12. I Never Said Goodbye 13. Skyscraper 14. Three Lock Box

Can't believe you say that about skyscraper Pete probably the best VH style album of the 80s, I get it Martin has no taste, anyone who thinks face dances is the BEST who album shouldn't even comment!!!!

1.1984 2. 5150 3. Fair warning 4 EEAS 5. Diver down 6. Skyscraper 7. WACF 8. OU812 SOLO SAMMY

Pete I noticed you haven't done a sammy hagar solo ranking. That would be awesome! Big Sammy fan here.

I think Martin has lost the plot - his comments about Eat Em & Smile were hilariously not based on reality.

I have learned that if Martin says it isn’t any good, it’s good. If Martin says it’s good, it sucks.

1984 tour was the first time they toured that my parents felt I was old enough to go. They didnt come close enough to Harrisburg Pa for me to get there so I never saw the Dave era band, for me at least IS Van Halen. I like Sammy, but I dont really like Van Hagar aside from 5150. I feel much like I do about Black Sabbath. The Dio era isnt Black Sabbath, its great, but not Sabbath. Same with Van Halen. I saw both Dave and VH in 1988. I was more excited to see Edward, but seeing Dave was also exciting. I have to say at least at that point Dave's show was just as great as VH. I VH at RFK stadium and was in the nosebleeds for Monsters of Rock and I saw Dave at the Hershey arena. Both fantastic shows and I am so glad that I saw Edward.

1. VAN HALEN (1978) 2. WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST (1980) 3. FAIR WARNING (1981) 4. VAN HALEN II (1979) "sorry, Butch. I do still love it though! 5. 1984 (" ") 6. DIVER DOWN (1982) And honestly, that's it. I LOATHE the stupid Sammy era VH records, and while the DLR solo albums are better than them for sure, they also aren't really worth talking about either. Oh, wait.... Sammy solo records? Wait, let me go get the lighter fluid and some matches! 🔥 Actually, I do like the material he did for the "Heavy Metal" Soundtrack and obviously Montrose. But that's IT for Hagar. There is 0 comparison between the great Roth era and the douchebag Hagar years. Marc ⚡

I think we need to come up with a drinking game where everyone takes a shot every time Martin says “Four on the Floor”! Who’s with me? 🥃🥃😆😆

The Skyscraper tour was actually at Maple Leaf Gardens, not Kingswood. Poison was the warm-up band.

Brilliant as per usual Boyz. My only bitch is why doesn't Martin talk about do dads any longer? Do dads rule .

Three lock box is the best Sammy solo album. remember the heroes for crying out loud!

if you listen to Crazy from the Heat without the video it's awesome. did Yankee Rose at karaoke once in the oughties . good times

My top 3 would have to be Fair Warning, Standing Hampton, and Three Lock Box.

NICE topic

1. Skyscraper 2. Fair Warning 3. Eat 'm and Smile 4. 1984 5. Women and Children

Fair Warning and Women and Children First are my favorite Van Halen albums. I also love 1984 more than a lot of VH fans do. I never need to hear Diver Down or anything on it again. I enjoy both of the Sammy-era VH albums here, but 5150 is far better than OU812. Both are better than Diver Down. I love that middle trio of Sammy solo albums -- Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, and VOA. I saw Sammy live on all three of those tours, and I still listen to all three of those records frequently today. All three I prefer to the Sammy-era VH albums. The Sammy solo bookends -- Danger Zone and I Never Said Goodbye -- are okay, but I never need to listen to either of those again. I had HSAS on just a week or so ago; still pretty solid stuff. I'm sorry this group never did more. No use for any of Dave's solo records.

1.Fair Warning....2.Eat 'em and Smile.....3.Diver Down....4.Women and Children First...5. 5150

My list would be different than most … 5150 1984 Standing Hampton HSAS OU812 Fair Warning VOA Danger Zone Women and Children First I Never Said Goodbye Eat ‘Em and Smile Three Lock Box Diver Down Skyscraper

I'm a big fan of classic Van Halen with David Lee Roth. I think their first albums are great, they modernized hard rock. and I love "1984", it's my favorite album. I admit that Sammy is a great singer but I only like the first album: "5150". then I stopped listening to them. I find David's first solo album charming, then it left my radar.

he sounds like he's playing inside a matchbox ftw 😍✌

Martin popoff is just a genius and his observations are just point on

Nice video😃👍

You guys are so cheesy. I love it. 😁

After many years of deliberation, my conclusion is as follows: #1: Fair Warning #2: Van Halen 2 #3 Women And Children First #4 Diver Down #5 Van Halen 1 #6 1984 The Sammy stuff doesn’t count.

Eat em and smile for me, keep up the weather reports Pete I'm in New York soon lol

84 for original VH. 5150 for Van Hagar. A little ain’t enough for Roth.

1. 1984 2. VOA 3. 5150 4. OU812 5. Eat ‘Em and Smile 6. Skyscraper 7. Driver Down 8. Fair Warning 9. Women and Children First

"Panama" is VH 101 - on what kinda weed RU?

HOLY CRAP MARTIN, WE ARE BROTHERS FROM ANOTHER MOTHER. HINA IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE DLR SONG TOO!

Van Halen rhino for unlawful carnival knowledge July12

Sammy Hagar................................. Rules

Great show, gents - thank you! I am a little surprised by two things: 1) No love for "Damn Good" off of the Skyscraper album. One of Dave's best songs, in or out of VH, and a rare insight into his more reflective/sensitive side. While the album itself has always had an cold, clinical sound that turned me off, that particular song stands out. 2) The favorable reviews of the 5150 production. To me, that album has the worst production of any VH album, especially the drum sound. I've always though that Alex sounds like he's hitting table tops with his drum sticks - there's just no depth to the drum sound IMO. I know Eddie credits Don Landee with helping him achieve the brown sound, but clearly Ted Templeman had a role to play in that as well, because, to my ears. he is clearly missed on this album.

1. Sammy Hagar - 9 On a 10 Scale 2. Van Halen - Van Halen 2 3. Sammy Hagar - Red self titled 4. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton 5. Sammy Hagar - Danger Zone 6. HAS Sammy Hagar - Street Machine 7. Van Halen - Women and Children First 8. Van Halen - Van Halen 9. Van Halen - Diver Down 10. David Lee Roth - Eat Em and Smile 11. Van Halen - 5150 12. Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge 14. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper 15. David Lee Roth - Crazy From the Heat 16. Van Halen - 02810 17. Sammy Hagar - VOA 18. Van Halen - Mean Street 19. Sammy Hagar - 3 Lock Box 20. Van Halen - 1984 ( can't stand Jump ) Haven't heard any other material from these artists, so I can't rank them

Light Up the Sky is the best fast Van Halen song

I never listen to any of these album, even though I bought all the vinyl used for my collection, back when vinyl was being giving away in the 90's.

Hot and Dirty is one of the greatest accidental parody songs of all time.

Their best ranking (duo) episode for a while. Not surprised vh killed the solo hacks, especially that jerk-off dlr. He was great in the band yet warners needed to reason with Dave before quitting. Tell him band/solo possible simultaneously. As for hagar, best on 1st montrose and most of post-1986 with band. 5150 not impressive although was a new lineup. Best overall from today: 1984, fw, probably wacf though really prefer ou812 more. Diver... is underrated yet somehow better than remainder discussed here. Watchable one!

OU812 is an absolute classic. HSAS only really has one killer track, Top Of The Rock. Diver Down was dreadful for the most part. Love most of Hagars material, although, like Neil Peart penning a song about baldness, having a track with mommy in the title is a mistake, especially when the song itself is good. The brilliant Same Old Crossroads and Sucker In a 3 Piece never even got a mention. I look forward to a comparison of later releases from each entity.

If you had four on the floor in the drinking game this week you're wasted. 😵🇨🇦🍺

90’s next?!

No Extreme?

The chorus of Panama sounds too much like The Heat is On by Glenn Frey

1. Van Halen - Fair Warning (the best VH album ever) 2. Van Halen - 1984 3. Van Halen - Women and Children First 4. Van Halen - 5150 5. Van Halen - Diver Down 6. Van Halen - OU812 7. David Lee Roth - Eat'Em and Smile 8. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper

I’ve always told people that Diver Down could be one of the greatest EPs ever, just take out a few songs and change the track listing to… 1. The Full Bug 2. Little Guitars intro 3. Little Guitars 4. Pretty Woman 5. Cathedral 6. Secrets 7. Hang em High Not to mention they had extra songs they could’ve used like Main Squeeze from the Fair Warning sessions. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KwFXXzKuDCE.html

Fair warning, women and children first , standing hampton. Thats my top 3. Alot of people disagree with me, but i never liked 1984. They jumped the shark with Jump.

Diver Down will always be at the bottom for me due to its shortness and some covers just not fitting into the album.

Not a fan of Hagar, Roth solos or HSAS. Probably rank Roth's slightly over Hagar. Highly disappointed with Roth after VH to be honest. Got into them heavily in like 1983 when I was like 11. I (still) LOVE the incredible "1984" and then he left the band ☹️ VH: 1. 1984 2. Women and Children 3. Fair Warning 4. OU812 (definitely never hated it like Pete, but agree that the hits...nope) 5. Diver Down 6. 5150 (always had a hard time with this album)

I'm probably the only one, but it seems strange including Sammy's solo albums in this. I have not heard any of them. In fact, I'm going to come right out and say it. It's probably a British thing, but had anyone even heard of him before he joined VH?

Martin “kinda thing” Popoff. ;)

Is Martin ever right with any opinion? No. No he’s never right.

Spot on, Martin: what I really don't like on early Nugent and Hagar albums, and what really puts them in a subpar category for me is the drumming (or the way the drumming is produced). It is lifeless and boring and really brings the power of the songs down. Cheers.

Hagar album is. Called "I never said goodbye" these nothing wrong with that album As a recording artist myself I really want to know your credentials to be slamming bands albums the way you guys do

I get what Pete and Martin are saying about hating the hits on OU812 but I absolutely hate two of the hits on 5150 and begrudgingly have come to accept "Why Can't This Be Love". I'll say one more thing - when this record came out, Van Halen was no longer my favorite group. Now that being said, "Summer Nights" and "5150" are fantastic but much of the rest of it bothers the hell out of me