Van Halen Album sales stats

[Thetruthbaby]

Another interesting thing about the numbers is that people all still think that Vhagar had #1 singles. The actual truth is that JUMP is the ONLY #1 hit single VH ever had. WCTBLove did not make it to #1 and neither did WILove. In fact Van Halen had basically as many top 40 singles as Vhagar. I've seen the Billboard Book Of Hits and if memory serves me correct I think they had 1 more top 40 single with hagar than they did with ROTH. People just assume because of the propoganda campaign from Warner & Vhagar at the time that the origianl lineup didn't have many top 40 hits but this isn't true at all. Next time I'm in a bookstore I'll get the info and post it here. Trust me though you will be surprised at just how successful the original lineup was at "Top 40" despite their heavier sound. And again, VAN HALEN's only #1 single was JUMP. Check for yourself if you don't believe.

[jero]

Originally posted by DLR7884
Are you the Jero that used to have a Dave website?

DLR7884
I remember visiting it long ago....is it still up?

Yep that's me. No is not up anymore. Took it offline when I became a moderator for the offical site in 2000.

Nice that you remember it!

[DLR7884]

That was a good site, one of the original DLR sites on the web.

DLR7884
You were a moderator for which official site?

[jero]

Thanx for the compliment Dude!
www.davidleeroth.com was the name, I'm pretty sure you know that one!!!

[academic punk]

Originally posted by Big Troubles
Van Halen outsells Van Hagar for the obvious reason of it being good rock n roll. Cut n Dry. Van Hagar boasts more #1 hits? Simple pimple. When Sam joined the band, thats when they actually tried to capture the #1 spots all the time. They then began making music that was radio friendly and thought about the $$$, instead of thinking about the fan base. They sold themselves to the record industry when Dave left. Dave still did the "shoo bopping" and making ahead of its time music and video despite the industry and their finger shaking at him.
Van Halen gained in popularity and lost their integrity. Remember when Van Halen used to mean something? Remember Dave in interviews saying, "VH music makes you feel like you are apart of the band and its creation- you were Van Halenized!"

Actually, the REAL reason that Van Hagar had more #1s is b/c in the late 80s Billboard switched their chart counting process to SOUNDSCAN.

SOUNSCAN was a database that was installed directly into record stores registers - as you made the sale it was tabulated. Previously, it was trecord companies as well as stores reporting to Billboard with what was selling. The older procedure was obviously much more susceptible to fraud: if a record company had an interest in making an album a hit, they could easily claim it was more popular than it was.

SOUNDSCAN works like movie theater rankings. That's why these days albums - like movies - generaly start at their highest position and then make their way down, as opposed to pre-soundscan when an album would start low and then crawl its way up.

Roth-era VH would've been CONSISTENTLY opening in the top 5 had SOUNDSCAN been in place in his day.

(still, anything from Hagar outselling Fair Warning is pretty disturbing)(then again, FW had NO singles)

[DLR7884]

Originally posted by jero
Thanx for the compliment Dude!
www.davidleeroth.com was the name, I'm pretty sure you know that one!!!

You don't still moderate that site do you?

DLR7884
Please say no...

[jero]

No, when TK and Dave had a fight about a unpaid bill, the site was taken offline. To bad, I had fun doing it!

[DLR7884]

I bet.

So did you get stiffed too?

DLR7884
?

[jero]

No man! The only thing is I never heard from those guys again. And it was pretty much work, but as a fan you do those things for nothing!

[DLR7884]

Guess so.

You should bring your site out of retirement!

DLR7884

[jero]

I don't know, I don't got as much to offer as this site, also I'm from The netherlands and my English is not that good (the reason why I moderate the international forum at daves official site)

[DLR7884]

There's forums at Dave's site or were you talking about the past?

DLR7884
What do you think of his website these days?

[jero]

In the past! No forums right now. Dave's site is nothing anymore!
The Keepers where really good in maintaining the site, but as it always goes, when a bill is not paid (that was really a shame) everything is gone!

[jero]

http://www.vhnd.com/01dlrtour/dlr010703.shtml

scroll to Jero

[Bad Muthafucker]

I just had to post this. This is a quote from mother fucking liar Spam Fagar from an interview during the Spam & Dave tour. "He (Dave) was so sure when he left that they'd (Van Halen) shrivel up and die, but we sold 42 million records and sold out every venue for 11 years." What a mother fucking liar!

[Big Troubles]

dont ya just hate it when Sammy opens his mouth. He talk about nothing positive. Its always what the band did to him, or said about him, or what Dave did or said. This is what makes the man a fool. He should keep things cool. Plus, when he talks album sales, he is totally fucking lost. Dave outsold all Sam Hagar albums. I dont think any Sam Hagar albums made Diamond did they? Twice??

[Bill Lumbergh]

It's just his insecurities. He knows Dave will go down in history(and go down ON most of the hot young bitches in America), and he will be nothing more than a fat, screeching footnote. Next.

[Big Troubles]

LOL When he dies, do you think they will need an extra large coffin for his hair doo? I was also thinking. I listened to Howard Stern radio download the other day from here, and in it, Howard kept asking if dave would fight Sam? Dave never really did answer the question... Which leads me to this question. Why is this not a main attraction on a PPV? Vince McMahon wants an attraction for Wrestlemania 21, this is it! Live on PPV, Sammy Hagar vs Diamond David Lee Roth. 12 rounds of Boxing/MMA. Id pick Dave in 3 rounds. Sammy Who?

[Bill Lumbergh]

Originally posted by Big Troubles
LOL When he dies, do you think they will need an extra large coffin for his hair doo? I was also thinking. I listened to Howard Stern radio download the other day from here, and in it, Howard kept asking if dave would fight Sam? Dave never really did answer the question... Which leads me to this question. Why is this not a main attraction on a PPV? Vince McMahon wants an attraction for Wrestlemania 21, this is it! Live on PPV, Sammy Hagar vs Diamond David Lee Roth. 12 rounds of Boxing/MMA. Id pick Dave in 3 rounds. Sammy Who?

Oh fuck, I'd sell my first born to watch that matchup! Sam would come out swingin' , and Dave would just dodge while Sam wears himself out. After about 45 seconds of flailing around, Dave lands a roundhouse kick.....and it's BYE BYE BBAAAABBBBYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, I would pay BIG bucks to see that.

[Big Troubles]

me too! Im surprised no promoters have tried to book this? Easily Id pay $100. Prob more just for that match alone.

[cwsmith17]

Originally posted by EVH FANATIC
VH1 and 1984 alone outsell the whole Hagar catalog!!

However, 5150 outsold 4/6 of the Roth era.

[cwsmith17]

Not that I like the Hagar era.

[DLR7884]

Originally posted by cwsmith17
However, 5150 outsold 4/6 of the Roth era.

So what?

It was also #1 on the charts.

Does that make it a better than all Dave era albums.

DLR7884
I don't fucking think so.

[UNCLAX72]

34mil vs 18mil
great job spammy

[Carmine]

Originally posted by cwsmith17
However, 5150 outsold 4/6 of the Roth era.

Half of which can be chalked up to curiosity, and the name VAN HALEN, which...they are NOT!

[Steve Savicki]

Why did Fair Warning only sell 2 million?

[Dan]

Originally posted by Steve Savicki
Why did Fair Warning only sell 2 million?

Steve,I was thinking the same thing.

[Big Troubles]

good question. Is that an updated number? Unchained, So this is Love? and Mean Street are fucking spectacular songs. Those are the kind of songs that 20 years from now, will still be talked about when Van Halen is mentioned. RWD, Jump and Panama are also still outshining anything Van Hagar has done.

[GAR]

Fair Warning's a pretty dark recording..

[Big Troubles]

absolutely. I think that's the best of Van Halen. The best part for me was "Oh Lord, strike that poor boy down" then Ed's ripping "lightening bolt" guitar playing. Fuckin ace!

[Redballjets88]

fair warning didnt sale because it didnt have the hits and unless ur a true VH fan your not going to go out and buy an album with no hit songs

[Big Troubles]

Originally posted by Redballjets88
fair warning didnt sale because it didnt have the hits and unless ur a true VH fan your not going to go out and buy an album with no hit songs

Hmm... When Fair Warning was released the record co. pushed VERY hard, 3 songs. Unchained, So this is Love? and Hear About it Later. All 3 were and still are considered hits. Unchained is played on my radio at least twice a week. I believe FW's original "press kit" featured Sinners Swing as the original "hit" and that 81 tour was was a Sinners swing tour. (again that was the original idea)

The poor sales for FW have nothing to do with a lack of hits. To hardcore fans, its loaded with hits. To casual fans, it may just be one of those albums that didn't "catch on" with main stream media.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Fair Warning 2 mil
Balance 3 mil


HOW?

[jero]

Originally posted by Shaun Ponsonby
Fair Warning 2 mil
Balance 3 mil


HOW?

In the US, but worldwide it is 7.9 against 4.3

[Redballjets88]

yeah bigtroubles u pretty much restated what i just said

[Big Troubles]

Originally posted by Redballjets88
yeah bigtroubles u pretty much restated what i just said

actually it was more of a correction. You stated there were no hits. In fact there were 3.

I also added a bit of backstory to the original 1981 tour plan. But ok.



Peace.

[Big Troubles]

Originally posted by Shaun Ponsonby
Fair Warning 2 mil
Balance 3 mil


HOW?

easy.

Any albums sales are usualy determined by what preceeded it. What success did Van Hagar have before Balance compared to what success Van Halen had before FW.

WACF was a mixed bag for most Van Halen fans. Synths were introduced and creativly VH was streaming off their VH1 and VH2 path. Fans might have been unsure about FW.

Right Here/Right Now was a pushed hard CD, filled with live cuts of Sam doing some old VH material and fans might have liked the ide that RHRN was the first live cd VH produced.

[Big Troubles]

Or.... There are alot of fucking idiots in the world who THOUGHT (past tense) that Van Hagar was better as it went along. But in fact, the album sales prove differently from 1985 on. 5150 carried success from 1984, but after that it dwindled. #'s dont lie.

[Loons The Great]

I read that Van Halen is up to 56.5 million albums sold in the U.S.

[ppg960]

Originally posted by jero
In the US, but worldwide it is 7.9 against 4.3

Where does that number come from??
Fair Warning is my favorite. But the highest i've seen it posted for is 2.5 million.:confused: