VAN HALEN – OU812 [Japan edition remastered – Forever Young series] Out Of Print

Few people know – even some rabid VAN HALEN fans – that the Sammy Hagar-era albums have been remastered as part of the WB Records ‘Forever Young’ series. These are the only remastered versions available of these albums, and one of you asked for all to be featured here, all out of print and hard to find.
Let’s go with “OU812 – Forever Young series remastered“.

All Van Halen albums from the Sammy Hagar-era have that bombastic, glossy ’80s production, but especially on the first two, the bass presence is scarce, typical from the era.
On this Japanese remaster you get a higher overall (as it is the norm on most remasters) level, but fortunately not saturated / brickwalled.
The waveforms are ever-so-slightly louder than the original US and Europe CDs, but extremely tasteful. The dynamics of the original recording also appear completely intact.

The bass, which was virtually unnoticed on the previous CD editions of OU812, has been increased resulting in a more rounded presence, now you can tell Michael’s Anthony’s ‘bass guitar’ is there, you can also feel Alex Van Halen’s kick drums with a defined stomp.
Sammy Hagar’s voice is more natural and not so buried within the mix, and best of all, no sign of heavy dynamic range compression like most of today’s remasters.

This “OU812 – Forever Young series” remaster is more than welcomed, as this is the best sounding version you can hope of.
It’s not easy to find a copy and all are pretty expensive, but if you can afford the purchase you’ll be very happy. This CD sounds million bucks.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox

Warner Music Japan ～ Forever Young Series
Ｖ Ａ Ｎ  Ｈ Ａ Ｌ Ｅ Ｎ

01 – Mine All Mine
02 – When It’s Love
03 – A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)
04 – Cabo Wabo
05 – Source of Infection
06 – Feels So Good
07 – Finish What Ya Started
08 – Black and Blue
09 – Sucker in a 3 Piece
10 – A Apolitical Blues

Sammy Hagar – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Eddie Van Halen – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Alex Van Halen – drums, percussion
Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals

OUT OF PRINT
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/WPCR-75069
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/WPCR-78026