The quintessential American hard rock band Van Halen toured sporting three of the original members who guaranteed their election to the Rock ‘n’Roll Hall of Fame on the first ballot . Van Halen’s 1978 debut quickly became a benchmark for every hard rock band ever since , and six years later they even topped that with 1984 , one of the most popular and influential albums ever . Every one of the four Van Halen albums in between , II , Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down would all sell a million-plus and chart Top 6 on Billboard sales .Yet by 1982 , Van Halen had become a series of contradictions, and here in 2012 are equaled only by Pink Floyd as the longest-running soap opera in rock. Original members Eddie and Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and original former member Michael Anthony dish on the opposing forces inside and outside of the band during those years . -Redbeard