Van Halen was the world’s biggest rock band at the beginning of 1985. Their 1984 album had sold more than five million copies in the U.S., reaching Number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (their highest position to that date, held back only by the juggernaut that was Michael Jackson’s Thriller album) and delivering their only Number 1 single, Jump. The supporting tour was a massive success, selling out all 101 shows.
Eddie Van Halen hoped to propel the band to even greater success, starting work in early 1985 on new musical ideas at his 5150 studio with Donn Landee, who engineered all six of Van Halen’s previous albums and had become the guitarist’s studio sidekick.
