Van Halen’s ‘Balance’ Was Made By ‘Four Pissed Off People’

Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony opened up about the difficult birth of Van Halen‘s Balance in a new social media post, with Hagar saying the process “wasn’t fun.”

The 1995 album was Hagar’s last with the group, and found the band clashing over creative and personal differences while also trying to adjust to a post-grunge landscape.

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Opening up the album and looking at the individual pictures of the band members on Balance‘s inner sleeve, Hagar commented: “Look – four pissed off people! You know it’s so crazy, because to go into the studio and not want to be there, it was tough.”

“It was a little more work than the other ones,” Anthony noted. “There was… a lot of seriousness.” The duo put most of the blame on Eddie Van Halen, saying the guitarist put them “under a microscope” while they were trying to record their parts.

“It really would piss me off,” Hagar noted, “I’m siting in there waiting for Ed to stop complaining about stuff he hasn’t even heard yet. So [producer] Bruce [Fairbairn] said ‘f— this, come on we’re going to Canada.’ “

Hagar wound up recording his vocal parts at a vocal booth in Bryan Adams‘ home, and says the Van Halen brothers (Eddie and drumming brother Alex) had no choice to admit that he had done well when they heard the results: “I remember Ed looking at Al going, ‘yeah…this is pretty good, we can’t poke holes in this.”

Van Halen’s Expanded ‘Balance’ Reissue Includes New Live Tracks

An expanded edition of Balance was released last month. In addition to the B-side “Crossing Over” and two songs the group and its members included on the Twister soundtrack, the set includes nine previously unreleased live tracks from the Balance tour.