Van Halen's Studio Albums Trivia Quiz

As their first album, the self-titled "Van Halen" was recorded over three weeks in late 1977 and released in February of 1978. As bassist Michael Anthony recalled in an interview for Musicradar.com, "We didn't have a ton of material, so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it."

As a debut album, it met with moderate success, reaching Number 19 on the Billboard Top 200, with the best-performing single from the album being their cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me". But perhaps the best bit on the album is Eddie Van Halen's amazing guitar skills featured in the instrumental track "Eruption".

The band had just returned from their first world tour when they set to recording this album in December of 1978, less than a year after releasing "Van Halen". "Van Halen II" was released in March of 1979 to positive reviews, and it reached a respectable Number Six on the Billboard Top 200.

The album's top performing single, released in April, was "Dance the Night Away", reaching Number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Another year later, and another album. "Women and Children First" was released in March of 1980 and was significant in that all of the songs on the album were originals, where they had included a number of covers in their first two albums. As with its predecessor, though, the album only managed to reach Number Six on the Billboard Top 200, although it did reach Number Three on the Dutch Album Top 100 (the Van Halen brothers being Dutch in origin).

The only single from the album, released in May, was "And the Cradle Will Rock...", and it peaked at Number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Fair Warning" was released in April of 1981, again just over a year after their previous album, and while it received an overall positive reception, reaching Number Five on the Billboard Top 200, it did not sell as many copies as its predecessors.

All that to say, "Fair Warning" had five singles released, with four of them reaching the top 20 of the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart: "Mean Street" (12), "Unchained" (13), and "So This Is Love?" (15). Only the latter song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (sort of), placing at Number 110.

Yet again, the members of Van Halen produced their next album roughly a year after their previous one, releasing "Diver Down" in April of 1982. They returned to more cover songs with this album, with five of the twelve tracks being covers. One of those, "(Oh) Pretty Woman" (written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees) was their top hit from the album.

"Diver Down" had six single releases, with the best showings by "(Oh) Pretty Woman", reaching Number One1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and with "Dancing in the Street", peaking at Number Three. Respectively, they reached Numbers 12 and 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"1984", not coincidentally released in January of 1984, was the last album (until "A Different Kind of Truth") to feature David Lee Roth as Van Halen's lead singer. From this first half of Van Halen's albums, "1984" and the debut "Van Halen" albums were the best-selling. And "1984" made the best showing from the David Lee Roth years, peaking at Number Two on the Billboard Top 200.

Three of the four singles from "1984" charted very strongly, and "Jump" became the first Van Halen song to reach Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 (and also the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart). Both "I'll Wait" and "Panama" reached Number Two on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, but only to Number 13 (both of them) on the Billboard Hot 100.

After David Lee Roth left Van Halen for 'creative differences', the band found Sammy Hagar, AKA 'The Red Rocker', who had gotten his start with the band Montrose before striking out on his own solo career. Following the success of "1984" might have been daunting, but with their new singer found, Van Halen launched into a recording session in the Fall of 1985. When they released "5150" in March of 1986, it became the fastest album from the Warner Bros. label to sell a million copies, going platinum in a week.

"5150" reached Number One on the Billboard Top 200, the first Van Halen album to do so. Of the five singles released from the album, "Why Can't This Be Love" did the best, reaching Number Onr on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and Number Three on the Billboard Hot 100.

The number '5150' has its origins in Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, which references a 'mentally disturbed person'. Eddie used it for the name of his recording studio, and subsequently for the band's seventh studio album title.

"OU812" had the working title of "Bone", but thankfully, they went a different direction. Sammy Hagar's second offering with Van Halen proved to be as successful as the first, also reaching Number One on the Billboard Top 200 after its release in May of 1988.

It has not been verified, but it is a fan theory that the title "OU812" was chosen as a response to David Lee Roth's solo album released in 1986 titled "Eat 'Em and Smile".

Six of the album's tracks were released as singles, and four of them made it into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100: "When It's Love" (5), "Finish What Ya Started" (18), "Black and Blue" (34), and "Feels So Good" (35). Both "When It's Love" and "Black and Blue" also reached Number One on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Released in June of 1991, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" was Van Halen's third album to feature Sammy Hagar as the lead singer, and the third time they had a Number One album! It debuted in the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 and stayed their for three weeks.

Of the six singles released from the album, only two of them made the Billboard Hot 100: "Top of the World" (27) and "Right Now" (55). All six songs fared well on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with three of them ("Poundcake", "Runaround", and "Top of the World") all reaching Number One.

Van Halen's tenth studio album, and the last with Sammy Hagar, was released in January of 1995, once again reaching the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 - their fourth album in a row to do so. Despite their success, infighting between manager Ray Danniels, Sammy Hagar and the rest of the band led to the departure of Hagar after their album tour.

Of five singles released from "Balance", "Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)" was the only Number One hit on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with "Amsterdam" making it to Number Two. As for the Billboard Hot 100, "Can't Stop Loving You" reached Number 30, while "Not Enough" peaked at Number 97.

"Van Halen III", released in 1998, was the only album featuring former Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone, and it also marked the end of the streak of Number One placements on the charts, reaching only Number Four on the Billboard Top 200. The album would also be the last one with long-time bassist Michael Anthony.

Three singles were released from "Van Halen III", with "Without You" reaching Number One on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Fire in the Hole" reached Number Six, but was also notable for being used in the "Lethal Weapon 4" soundtrack. None of the singles cracked the Billboard Hot 100.

David Lee Roth returned to the fold in 2007 and that eventually led to the band's 12th studio album "A Different Kind of Truth", which was released in February of 2012, nearly a full 14 years after its predecessor. This album also introduced another Van Halen to the lineup, as Eddie's son Wolfgang took over the bass-playing duties.

A number of the tracks on the album were from old, rough cut recordings from the band's archives that were refined and reworked. David Lee Roth, in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times" referred to the album as "a sort of collaboration with [Van Halen's] past."

"A Different Kind of Truth" peaked at Number Two on the Billboard Top 200, but only had two singles released. "Tattoo" reached Number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. No new albums were recorded before the band officially disbanded following the death of Eddie Van Halen from cancer in 2020.