Mike is out.  Wolf is in. There's a "superfan" behind the board.  Old songs and fresh blood.  Just goes to show, you don't know what you've got until it's gone.  How did the final Van Halen album come to be?  Well, it almost didn't.

All the chickens come home to roost in these dark times.  Even a "Greatest Hits" record and a reunion with Sammy can't slow the freight train.  Of the rare highlights, most of them were musical.  We're going to listen to those too.  
It was either Jesus , or Gandalf that once said, "It's always darkest before the dawn."
VH forever.

This brings us no pleasure.

For the first time in perhaps ever, The Mighty Van Halen are forced to take an "L". 
When Dave can't seem to keep "monkey hour" in check on live TV, all future plans with him are put on ice. 
However, we did get a couple new tracks out of the deal.  That was cool.
This episode is all about the proverbial "he said, she said bullshit".

They did it!  Van Halen held their own against the grunge tide.  While many of their contemporaries fell under the wheel of the new "corporate rock" paradigm shift, Eddie and Co. managed to keep their trajectory.  For a while.  All that goes up, must come down.  I think that's in the Bible somewhere.  Cracks are starting to form in the once impenetrable unit.  Eddie and Alex are battling the bottle with mixed results.  Sammy is expanding his family.  Mikey?  Right now, Mike really might be envisioning that solo album.  All that said, "Balance" is a fine album with even better B-sides as it turns out.  "Grow it long.  Shave it off.  Life is hard.  Never soft." -Samuel Roy Hagar

1991 was a strange year for pop music.  "Grunge" was in.  80's metal was out.  Unless that is you were actually a 70's metal band who happened to influenced a lot of these Seattle upstarts.  This is where Van Halen finds themselves at the turn of the decade.  Ascending to "Elder Statesman" status while still keeping it in the top 10.  Perhaps that is why they are "America's Greatest Rock Band".  If you don't agree, go ahead and hit that back button.  We don't serve your kind here.

Once again, it's all success.  Turns out 5150 was not a fluke. Our heroes can apparently drop hits with or without a producer.  Who could blame them for a solid "victory lap" with the "Monsters of Rock" tour?  Not us.  Especially a young El Pagano who saw this one in person.  Let's do it til we're black and blue!

Hello baaaaaaaaby!  Van Halen Mach 2.  Van Hagar.  Whatever you want to call it, smells like somebody stepped in hit.  Junior Gen Xers like ourselves welcomed Sammy with optimism.  We also stayed in touch with Dave.  As far as we were concerned, it was joint custody.  The band now found themselves with a fresh set of downs and a pocket full of plays Eddie (QB) has been sitting on for years. 
They . Could.  Go.  All.  The.  Waaay!!!!!

The middle of the 80's found VH at a fork in the road.  Pack it up or soldier on.  One of those was never actually an option.  Who could step into these be-dazzled, platform shoes?  Very famous/not famous names were thrown around and jam sessions were had.  But nothing "jived" until they hooked up with the "Voice Of America" himself, Samuel Roy Hagar.  The "Red Rocker".  That "Dude From Montrose".  The "Whitest Teeth In Rock and Roll", Sammy Hagar.  And Diamond Dave?  He's studying spanish motherf**kers!  Estudiando espanol.  Never say the man doesn't tap dance his ass off.  The result was an iffy EP and a classic LP.   Diamond Dave Mach 2 vs. Van Hagar for car stereo dominance.  We'll sell you a seat, but you'll only need the edge.

Van Halen was poised to take over the world in late 1983.  Eddie had just finished his new "5150" studio and was enjoying the creative freedoms that came with it.  Alex had finally found that drum sound he'd been looking for.  Dave was wondering if he needed these dudes at all.  Last, but not least, Michael manages to get screwed over by EVERYBODY.  Endless growth is unsustainable.  The center will not hold.  Things fall apart.