Van Halen – Van Halen

Hands down the most insane single LP I’ve ever owned. Vinyl quality, packaging, mastering—absolute endgame on all fronts.

I bought the SACD on release day and only now finally decided to get the One-Step 2LP version. It was just way too pricey for me back then—but all it takes is side A to realize this is the real deal. Hearing all the tiny details in Eruption and Eds playing over all alone makes it worth every cent.

I also own the West German original pressing, Chris Bellman’s 2015 cut, the box set version, and the MFSL SACD—but the One-Step LP is the definitive version. I cranked You Really Got Me louder than I probably ever have before. 💕

Van Halen I is among my top five favorite albums of all time, and now I can experience it in a completely new way.

Eternal love to Ed, Al, Mikey, and Dave.

I can't quite match the edition I have anywhere on Discogs. I feel like this is the closest bet, but still not right.

My Side 2 matches one of this edition's runout variants exactly: BSK-2-3075 WW4 SP 1-2 . ─◁

But Side 1 is BSK-1-3075 SR-CH1 [SRC logo] 1-1. I can find this on other Specialty Record variants of Van Halen, but none of them match Side 2 at all. Furthermore, all of the Specialty Records pressings seem like they have the EAST pressing plant ID embossed on the center ring, but this record does not have it.

I guess this is the closest? Either way, the Warner Bros. "ghost" style labels indicate mine is a 1980's re-issue, which is the main thing I want to know.

My copy came with the original inner sleeve in color. Is there any chance that this pressing from 1978 had the inner sleeve in color as well as in black and white?

Very EQ-forward compared to the original pressing. But it's 10x better and more fun for it. Cheap to buy and impressive sound - no need to look any further

I have a version with the same european wb logo on the label and k56470, but without the biem at all.

Holy smokes this pressing is amazing. It sounds like the band is playing in my room, whenever I put this record on. There’s no pops or cracks, the packaging is really nice, and I managed to get this bad boy for 35 dollars. I highly recommend picking this pres!

Incredible pressing!!! All I can say is WOW!!! All around this is the one to own. The 1978 Los Angeles test pressing is excellent and the same Los Angeles matrix promo also. Stay away from the MoFi, the highs are completely unnatural. Steve & Kevin nailed this one 10 out of 10.

It's not d on the sticker or sleeve, nor is it mentioned on this discogs entry, but this is on 180g vinyl. Liner is all black with a monochrome metallic VH Van Halen logo, like what's on the album cover, and then reverse side has pictures of the guys, song credits, and then something that probably wasn't there in 1978: www.van-halen.com

I've only ever heard this on CD/Spotify/FM radio, but it sounds great to me. Would love to find a '78 pressing to compare.

If your choices are a scratchy original or this copy, go with this copy. It sounds awesome and you won't be disappointed.

If you want a wonderful entry point to some early VH, these are the go to pressings. The Bellman cuts are fantastic, especially for the price. I am sure the Mofi pressings are impressive and I am usually the guy who would pull the trigger on them, but nope. I am sticking with these.

Vinyl Quality - 4.125 stars
Sound Quality - 3.875 stars
Packaging(I don’t really care) - 3.25 stars
Value - 5 stars
Overall - 4.0625 stars

Rega P10, Hana SH cartridge, Dynaudio Contour 30i