Balance
by Van Halen
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Van Halen bestography
Balance is ranked 11th best out of 17 albums by Van Halen on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Van Halen is Van Halen which is ranked number 385 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,301.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Balance track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Balance rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart 1001-1100 | 91/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1995 | 31/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Decade 1990s Pt 3 | 86/100 | - |
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1995 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum year 1995 | 29/100 | - |
| 2026 | Romanelli | Top 79 Music Albums of 1995 | 34/79 | 3 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum decade 1990s Pt 3 | 57/100 | - |
| 2025 |  Nightprowler | Top 46 Music Albums of the 1990s | 5/46 | 18 |
| 2025 | mostlymor | Top 100 Music Albums of 1995 | 84/100 | 1 |
| 2025 | Gallowtree | Top 30 Music Albums of 1995 | 12/30 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 33 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 88 | |||
Balance collection
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Balance ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 75 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 01/07/2026 10:07 | Leginlists | 3,843 | 83/100 |
| ! | 06/11/2025 08:45 | cicadelic | 14,165 | 73/100 |
| ! | 04/19/2025 04:40 | SeventhOne | 162 | 67/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 65.8/100, a mean average of 64.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 64.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 19.0.
Balance favourites
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Balance forum mentions
Romanelli 04/22/2016 11:26 in The Romanelli Music Diary: A View From 3rd StreetBalance comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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GuitarDan 11/18/2010 02:28 | #16442
CONTEXT: On the last Van Hagar album, the band pushes the socially conscious vibe that brought them success through "Right Now." There are some nice moments, but not enough to make a lasting impression. MUSIC: Eddie tries to take the group into new directions. Hard rockers, ballads, funk/blues riffs, avant-garde instrumentals. The diversity is all good, but there are almost no memorable hooks. LYRICS: Hagar waffles back and forth between social statements and party anthems, which means that there's no consistent mood. It's also hard to take either of the sentiments seriously. HIGHLIGHTS: I Can't Stop Loving You, Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do, Not Enough
"Don't Tell Me" and "The Seventh Seal" are two of Van Hagar's best songs, in my opinion. "Aftershock" is very good too.
"Balance" itself though is seriously unbalanced. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) The music isn't bad; however, on many songs, there's dissonance between the music, and Hagar's (often) too-obvious lyrics, (exceptions noted.) "Not Enough" "Amsterdam" and "Big Fat Money" are examples:
Amazingly, the year after "Balance" - 1996 - VH released three of its grandest songs: all included on "Best of Volume 1" - "Humans Being" (#1,) "Me Wise Magic" (US #1 for over a month,) and "Can't Get This Stuff No More," (the latter two following a media circus reunion with Diamond Dave.)
"Balance" is a good title for last Van Hagar album because it shows Hagar's Jekyll and Hyde qualities equally.
The best songs on "Balance" have Dr. Jekyll - sincere, honest and direct: "Seventh Seal;" "Don't Tell Me;" "Aftershock;" and "Feelin'." The lyrics on these four songs aren't too dumb, too sentimental, or unfunny. Also, Dr. Jekyll sings well and writes adult contemporary hard rock melodies like Bon Jovi's best.
Mr. Hyde is sentimental, unfunny, and sounds like a caveman. Like Paul McCartney and Wings, an editor could've helped. With David Lee Roth, Van Halen's songs were funny or clever or street-wise (in a sarcastic teenage way.) Hagar's are sometimes just dumb. The lyrics to "Amsterdam" and "Big Fat Money" are exactly what you'd expect. They sound like they were written in 10 minutes. Bad lyrics make great music ("Not Enough") too sentimental, and radio pop ("Can't Stop Lovin' You" "Take Me Back") too generic.
VH had 3 singers in 1996, and released 3 very good songs, 1 with Hagar. "Humans Being;" "Me Wise Magic;" and "Can't Get This Stuff No More." All better than "Balance."
Romanelli TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/20/2011 02:42 | #22005
Pretty flat and lifeless. The good moments are way too few. It's just not any fun like they were before this.
I've always had a soft spot for the Van Hagar era. Balance is not the strongest Van Halen album. There are 2-3 songs that are very skippable, but I think the singles are pretty strong and Aftershock and Feelin' are solid. One of the harder rocking Van Hagar albums too.
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