Van Halen
by Van Halen

Album
Van Halen by Van Halen
Year: 1978
Release date: 1978-02-10
Overall rank: 382nd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 896 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1978 (6th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1970s (93rd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (382nd)

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Van Halen bestography

Van Halen is ranked as the best album by Van Halen.

Van Halen album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (382nd)
Van Halen Lower ranked (808th) »
1984

(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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Van Halen track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (860 - 241 votes)
Runnin' With The Devil
Average Rating: 86 (241 votes)Comments: View 6
2.
Eruption
Average Rating: 84 (223 votes)Comments: View 6
3.
Track pick (850 - 221 votes)
You Really Got Me
Average Rating: 85 (221 votes)Comments: View 4
4.
Track pick (880 - 238 votes)
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Average Rating: 88 (238 votes)Comments: View 8
5.
I'm The One
Average Rating: 80 (164 votes)Comments: View 2
6.
Jamie's Cryin'
Average Rating: 84 (197 votes)Comments: View 4
7.
Atomic Punk
Average Rating: 81 (167 votes)Comments: View 2
8.
Feel Your Love Tonight
Average Rating: 80 (165 votes)Comments: View 3
9.
Little Dreamer
Average Rating: 79 (165 votes)Comments: View 2
10.
Ice Cream Man
Average Rating: 80 (171 votes)Comments: View 3
11.
On Fire
Average Rating: 80 (159 votes)Comments: View 3

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Van Halen rankings

Van Halen rankings summary
Overall rank: 382nd | 1970s rank: 93rd | 1978 rank: 6th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)

Van Halen collection

Van Halen ratings

Average Rating: 
80/100 (from 896 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 896 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 !		4 days ago Johnnyo  Ratings distribution  9,82577/100
 
50/100
 !		08/12/2026 16:07 wizardalien  Ratings distribution  89648/100
 
80/100
 !		07/31/2026 15:42 Milhaud  Ratings distribution  2,15671/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.6/100, a mean average of 78.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.9.


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Van Halen favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 160 members

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Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 114 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From Johnnyo 4 days ago in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/06/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5427): By StreakyNuno
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by StreakyNuno () 1. by (1973) 2. by (1975) 3. by (1967) 4. by (1972) 5. by by (1967) 7. by (2004) 9. by (1977) 11. (1977) 12. by (1979) 13. by (1966) 14. (1982) 15. (1989) 16. by (1988) 17. (1986) 18. by by (2020) 22. by (1985) 23. by (1997)…”
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From BestEverAlbums 08/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5405): By AAL2014
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by AAL2014 () 1. by (1976) 2. by (1975) 3. by (2015) 4. by (1969) 5. by by (1965) 9. by (1999) 10. by (1966) 11. by (1998) 14. (1973) 16. by (1971) 18. by (1973) 19. by by (1972) 21. by (1975) 22. (1984) 23. by (2012) 24. by (1984) 25. by…”
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Van Halen comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 69 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/20/2025 21:39 | #309625
Falls off in the back half but damn if those first 3 songs arent incredible (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
50/100
From 09/18/2024 18:14 | #305315
Good debut, some killer guitar riffs, best track is Ain't Talkin Bout Love, followed by Jamie's Cryin. Liked the guitar but sometimes they went a bit overboard with the solos I think. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
70/100
From 02/25/2024 10:51 | #302213
Virtuos guitar aside, Van Halen were pretty inane. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
85/100
From 07/06/2023 23:07 | #297970
Van Halen's magnum opus. They would be at the top of the list for any band whose debut album was their best. By far. This is when they were at their hard rock guitar driven best. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 02/09/2023 23:36 | #293852
An electric debut album that captures all the quality of the group from the vocal to the drum work to the outstanding guitar playing. It is such a classic in the rock genre and is an album that is irresistible to me as it is so much fun to listen to. They explode onto the scene with the fantastic Runnin' With The Devil which sets the tone for the rest of the album and you know your in for a great ride. The energy and passion is then maintained throughout the rest of the release with there being a slight dip near the conclusion. Every member of the band is incredible as well and each of them deserve their own praise for how great they are on here. Overall, one of the most electrifying debuts from any group that cemented the band as a powerhouse in rock music.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of  1978
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
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6. Van Halen by Van Halen
7. Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
8. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
9. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
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