ProStudioMasters.com

5150 (pronounced "fifty-one-fifty") is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released on March 24, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It was the first of four albums to be recorded with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. It was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150<, itself 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 album 5150 was notable for a number of love songs and ballads, a contrast of the straightforward rock stylings of the Roth era. Many called the new incarnation "Van Hagar" either derisively or affectionately; a nickname so ubiquitous that, as Hagar points out in his book, Warner Bros. asked them to consider renaming the band as such. Bolstering criticism was the loss of Ted Templeman – who, having produced every previous album for the band, left to helm Roth's solo Eat 'Em and Smile. (Templeman would return to produce Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge a few years later, which Andy Johns was tapped for.) Donn Landee took over producer duties for 5150 after serving as an engineer on previous albums. However, the production on this album was markedly different from their albums with Templeman. Eddie's guitar, previously high in the mix and frequently pushed to the left channel (to simulate a "live" sound"), now sat equal in the mix and its overall sound had changed. This may have been his doing, as he was not a fan of the "live mix" that Templeman created with the Roth band. This is also the first Van Halen album to feature no instrumentals.