5150 Songs Ranked

5150 (pronounced “fifty-one-fifty”) is the seventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen’s home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person (a reference to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code). The 5150 name has been used several times by Van Halen. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band’s previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, on which Eddie made a guest appearance. Here are all of 5150 songs ranked.

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9. Inside

“Inside” is easily the strangest song on the album, and indeed one of the strangest in their entire catalogue. One of my favs, though I can see why people wouldn’t like it.”

8. Get Up

“Get Up” finds Sammy strutting in the vein of his father who was a pro boxer. It’s very motivational in both a cerebral and physical way, if tiresome due to the near constant double bass pedal drum beat.

7. Summer Nights

“Summer Nights” is the best rocker of the album. Ed’s Steinberger has a searing growl. The riff right before the chorus is very cool. This is a typical VH girl chasing song, but with less sleaze than Roth would give.”

See more: Van Halen Albums Ranked

6. Good Enough

“Good Enough,” the opening song to the disc with its very memorably opening line (probably VH’s most memorable intro), is a adrenaline pumping, hard-rock celebration of sexual attraction at its most physical and basest of all levels. In other words – pure lust all the way baby.”

5. Love Walks In

“A lyrical tour-de-force, this is easily the best song Van Halen ever wrote, at least lyrically. Sammy Hagar states it’s about when aliens came down and visited him (no, I’m not making this up – he talked about it on Howard Stern and in a Guitar World interview). While the song definitely makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of a person remembering an alien encounter (and this is before Whitely Strieber’s “Communion” came out), the beauty of this song is it doesn’t have to be about aliens, but can have any number of meaning. For me, this is probably my favorite Van Halen song.”

See more: Van Halen Songs Ranked

4. 5150

“Got a cool little riff. Even though Eddie’s guitar sound is terrible on this album. He shreds rhythm and most people overlooked that facet of EVH’s playing. He was one of the greatest rhythm players of all time.”

3. Why Can’t This Be Love

“‘Why can’t this be love’ a ballad, it’s not really, but, it’s emotionally powerful, with a simple yet effective message. Why Can’t This Be Love is pure Van Hagar, But Still Is Catchy…and holds up today, without sounding dated…”

2. Best of Both Worlds

“Best of Both Worlds” is one of Van Halen’s most highly regarded songs. Great rock and roll, even given the fact they say you don’t need to get born again to go to heaven (rather troubling line for the religiously inclined).”

1. Dreams

“What an awesome soaring anthem with great melodies and a lovely sentiment. Too heavy in parts to really be called a ballad–especially at some of the guitar solo points. “Dreams” is not only one of the band’s best power ballads, but also one of the best ballads of the 1980s.”