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Four decades ago, Van Halen entered a surprising new era of rock and roll – and they’re exploring it with a new deluxe edition from Rhino.

5150, the band’s first album with vocalist Sammy Hagar at the fore, will be released in several formats on March 27. The centerpiece is a 3CD/Blu-ray/LP version featuring the original remastered album (overseen by the band’s longtime engineer Donn Landee in 2023 for The Collection II box set), a disc of rare non-LP edits and mixes, and the premiere release of audio from the band’s bestselling home video Live Without a Net. That longform concert, taped at the New Haven Veteran Memorial Coliseum in the summer of 1986, has also been remastered in HD and included on a Blu-ray alongside two music videos. 2CD and dark green 2LP editions will also be available with just the bonus single audio.

Guitarist Edward Van Halen named his Studio City recording space “5150” after the California police code representing an involuntary psychiatric hold – and fans might have thought he needed one himself when the album came to pass. After the blockbuster success of the band’s sixth album 1984 – a No. 2 album bolstered by the chart-topping “Jump” and MTV classics “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher” – VH shocked fans by splitting with iconoclastic frontman David Lee Roth. Tensions reportedly simmered between Roth and the band (chiefly Ed and his brother, drummer Alex) over recording music outside the group’s aegis: Van Halen offering guitar pieces to films like The Wild Life and Roth recording a solo EP, Crazy from the Heat, with the group’s longtime producer Ted Templeman. After Patty Smyth of Scandal and Daryl Hall reportedly turned down offers to front the group, the Van Halens and bassist/backing vocalist Michael Anthony turned to Sammy Hagar, the dynamo ex-vocalist for Montrose who’d enjoyed a moderately successful solo career (and, interestingly, who also shared a mechanic with Edward).

While Hagar’s high, husky vocals were markedly different from Diamond Dave’s iconic yelps, Van Halen wanted a change in musical direction as well, reconvening at 5150 with Landee (now elevated to co-producer) and, instead of Templeman, Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. That wasn’t the only change, either; though already renowned as one of rock’s greatest guitarists, Ed also excelled at piano – “Jump” featured a notable synthesizer riff and solo – and synths and keyboard duly powered the singles “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Dreams” and “Love Walks In.” The lyrics and general vibe of those singles were less edgy and more romantic than previous offerings, too, and Hagar’s skill at guitar enabled Van Halen to keep playing more keys, both in the studio and on tour.

While longtime VH fans weren’t sure what to make of the change – enough people dubbed the new line-up “Van Hagar” that Warner Bros. seriously considered asking the group to change their name – the band wouldn’t lose the commercial prospects they built with 1984. Warner chairman Mo Ostin reportedly heard a work-in-progress version of “Why Can’t This Be Love” and quipped, “I smell money”; it reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Dreams” and “Love Walks In” placing in the Top 40 as well. (5150, like all of the Hagar-fronted VH albums, topped the Billboard 200, and was certified 6x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.)

The 5150 reissue offers a new shine on one of the jewels of the Van Halen crown, Live Without a Net. The 5150 tour was a surprising step for the group: beyond the beefed-up sound of Hagar on rhythm guitar and Edward Van Halen playing more keyboards), fans were anxious to know how The Red Rocker would approach the work of the band’s Roth-fronted material. The answer was surprising: of the dozen songs included on the bonus disc, five came from 5150, two from Hagar’s solo catalogue (“There’s Only One Way to Rock” and “I Can’t Drive 55”), two covers (Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” and The Troggs’ “Wild Thing,” not included on the original video), one guitar solo…and only two from the group’s back catalogue: 1984‘s “Panama” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” from the band’s 1978 self-titled debut. (5150 tracks “Love Walks In” and “Best of Both Worlds” and the cover of “Rock and Roll” were also, in different mixes, included as B-sides to various singles, and are included on the bonus singles disc with edits and even the band’s first extended versions of select tracks.)

5150 is unleashed anew on March 27, just three days after the album’s original anniversary. Links for all three products are available through Rhino’s official store; Amazon links exist below, and are hoped to populate soon. (As an Amaazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

5150 (Expanded Edition) (Warner/Rhino, 2026)

3CD/BD/LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com (green vinyl)

CD/LP 1: Original album remastered (released as Warner Bros. 25394, 1986)

1. Good Enough
2. Why Can’t This Be Love
3. Get Up
4. Dreams
5. Summer Nights
6. Best of Both Worlds
7. Love Walks In
8. “5150”
9. Inside

CD/LP 2: Bonus material

1. Best of Both Worlds (Single Edit)
2. Dreams (Single Edit)
3. Love Walks In (Single Edit)
4. Why Can’t This Be Love (Extended Version)
5. Dreams (Extended Version)
6. Best of Both Worlds (Live)
7. Rock and Roll (Live)
8. Love Walks In (Live)

Tracks 1 and 6 released as Warner Bros. single 7-25805, 1986
Track 2 released on Warner Bros. single 7-28702, 1986
Track 3 released on Warner Bros. single 7-28606, 1986
Track 4 released on Warner Bros. U.K. 12″ single W8740T, 1986
Track 5 released on Warner Bros. 12″ single 0-20496, 1986
Track 7 released on “Best of Both Worlds” 12″ promo – Warner Bros. PRO-A-2622, 1986
Track 8 released on “Love Walks In” German 12″ – Warner Bros. 920 595-0, 1986

CD 3: Live at New Haven Veteran Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT – 8/27/1986

1. There’s Only One Way to Rock
2. Summer Nights
3. “5150”
4. Panama
5. Best of Both Worlds
6. Love Walks In
7. Guitar Solo
8. I Can’t Drive 55
9. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
10. Wild Thing
11. Why Can’t This Be Love
12. Rock and Roll

Blu-ray

• Live Without a Net (HD upgrade; same track list as CD 3 except 10 – originally released as Warner Reprise Video 3-38129, 1986)
• Dreams (promo video)
• Why Can’t This Be Love (promo video)