Balance

Balance is known as the final studio album with singer Sammy Hagar, and it showcases a group that knows what it's good at. The lunacy of the band's youth has been replaced with a sense of refinement and of sharpening its trademarks. Eddie Van Halen still sneaks in his unusual approach to melody in the solo spaces, and a track like "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" is the stronger for it. "Can't Stop Lovin' You" could use even more of the group's wild abandon, despite a chorus no one's likely to forget. "Amsterdam" is Hagar's party-first vibe at full force. "Big Fat Money" indulges the band's boogie side at top speed. "Not Enough" starts at the piano for a power ballad that's far more orthodox than the group's typical output. "Aftershock" adds wonderful guitar color from Eddie that recalls the band's earliest days, while Alex Van Halen tries out a tighter, less swinging style on the drums. "Doin' Time" and "Strung Out" are bizarre interludes. "Take Me Back (Deja Vu)" is the band's approximation of Southern rock.