Van Halen to Drop Deluxe Edition of 5150

Box set to mark 40th anniversary of debut album with Sammy Hagar out March 27

Van Halen’s deluxe edition of *5150* unboxed. (Image: Rhino)

I was in sixth grade when former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar joined Van Halen and recorded the follow-up to 1984 in the wake of Diamond Dave’s departure.

The album 5150 — named after the police code for detaining someone up to 72 hours if they present a danger to themselves and others — was inescapable upon its original release on March 24, 1986. Its trio of synth-heavy singles — “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Dreams” and “Love Walks In” — were in heavy rotation on both AOR and Top 40 stations, while the live video of the guitar powerhouse “Best of Both Worlds” was all over MTV.

VIDEO: Van Halen “Dreams”

“Eddie can still split the atom with his axe, and he knows it,” critic Tim Holmes wrote in Rolling Stone at the time. “It’s a Van Halen world with or without David Lee Roth, and 5150 shoots off all the bombastic fireworks of a band at the peak of its powers.”

The album became the first Van Halen LP to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and went platinum six times over through the course of its existence.

Now, in honor of its 40th anniversary, Rhino Entertainment is releasing the hotly anticipated deluxe edition of 5150 on March 27.

The LP/3CD/Blu-ray collection includes the 1986 album remastered directly from the original master tapes, overseen by the band’s longtime engineer Donn Landee. Additionally, an Amazon-exclusive green vinyl version will be available the same day.

The set also introduces more than 90 minutes of previously unreleased live recordings from the band’s August 27, 1986 concert at New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. These are joined by a selection of rare 7” single edits and extended 12” versions.

The Blu-ray, meanwhile, includes a ling overdue high-def upgrade of Live Without a Net, Van Halen’s double-platinum 1986 concert video that was also recorded that same hot August night in New Haven, and where the video for “Best of Both Worlds” originated. Also included are the promotional videos for “Dreams” and “Why Can’t This Be Love.”

Check out the live version of album highlight “Summer Nights” below after the tracklist. It’s time to bring it back to ’86 for real this time.