Recording
Van Halen started work on the album in March 1990 and it was finished in April 1991, just two months before its release. The album itself was marketed as the "return" to Van Halen's hard rock roots, with most songs being guitar driven, and the synth sounds being replaced by pianos. This can be prominently heard on "Right Now", the most popular song from the album and likely from the "Hagar era". The band also reconciled with producer Ted Templeman who produced earlier Van Halen albums to return to work on the album. This was the first album that Eddie Van Halen recorded without his trademark Marshall Super Lead serving as the primary amplifier. The Marshall was fading, so Eddie went with his 1989 Soldano SLO-100 to record the album primarily, though the Marshall was used sparingly. A prototype for what would become the Peavey 5150 series of custom amplifiers was also used. Peavey's release of the 5150 series coincided with the release of the album.
"Poundcake" featured the sound of a battery operated power drill, which Eddie held to the pickups of his guitar and revved, creating the intro. The song "Top of the World" features a riff that was first heard during the outro of the 1984-era hit "Jump". For this reason, "Top of the World" is frequently played directly after "Jump" and appears immediately after it on the Best of Both Worlds compilation. The instrumental "316" is named for the March 16 birthday of Eddie's son Wolfgang, who is currently Van Halen's bass player, although the song predates his birth (as part of it was used by Eddie at the beginning of his guitar solo on tour, as seen on "Live Without a Net", and was originally written for 5150).
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)