Dave or Sammy?

For Van Halen fans, that is the question: Whether tis nobler to suffer the schwing and eros of outrageous original frontman David Lee Roth, or to take arms against the C-grade blubberings of blue-collar successor Sammy Hagar, and by opposing, end them. Or something like that.

Point is, everybody loves one and hates the other. Even the boys in Van Halen. On their new two-disc retrospective The Best of Both Worlds, Sam is clearly the man.

Which is not to say they exclude Diamond Dave; just that they make him feel as welcome as an ex-wife at an anniversary party. There are no pictures of Roth in the packaging. He's barely mentioned in the liner notes. The set pointedly includes live cuts with Sammy singing Dave-era hits like Panama and Jump.

Even the sequencing -- Roth and Hagar tracks are alternated in seemingly random order -- feels somehow like a bid to downplay Dave's material. (Short-lived third singer Gary Cherone fares even worse; neither he nor the album he made are even acknowledged here.)

Having said that, we admit The Best of Both Worlds will probably live up to its title for the casual fan. The set handily condenses the band's quarter-century career down to three dozen tracks, including ancient wonders like Runnin' With the Devil and Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, mid-career monsters like And the Cradle Will Rock ... and Hot for Teacher, and poppier post-Dave hits like Why Can't This Be Love and Right Now.

Granted, it's missing some classics like Ice Cream Man and Atomic Punk, but hey, no best-of can please all of the fans all of the time. At least the three new cuts (featuring Sammy, of course) aren't totally embarrasing, even if one is a semi-power ballad. And ultimately, if you don't wanna have to sit through all the Hagar songs to listen to Dave (or vice versa), well, that's what your skip button and iPod are for.

Which is to say: Whichever flavour of Van Halen you prefer, The Best of Both Worlds provides the full-meal deal. Unless your name happens to be Gary Cherone, of course.

Track Listing
DISC 1
Eruption
It's About Time
Up For Breakfast
Learning To See
Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love
Finish What Ya Started
You Really Got Me
Dreams
Hot For Teacher
Poundcake
And the Cradle Will Rock...
Black and Blue
Jump
Top of the World
(Oh) Pretty Woman
Love Walks In
Beautiful Girls
Can't Stop Lovin' You
Unchained

DISC 2
Panama
Best of Both Worlds
Jamie's Cryin'
Runaround
I'll Wait
Why Can't This Be Love
Runnin' With the Devil
When Its Love
Dancing in the Street
Not Enough
Feels So Good
Right Now
Everybody Wants Some
Dance the Night Away
Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love (Live)
Panama (Live)
Jump (Live)