Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony discussed the challenging creation of Van Halen’s Balance in a recent social media post, with Hagar stating that the process “wasn’t fun.”

The 1995 album marked Hagar’s final contribution to the band, during which tensions arose over creative and personal differences, all while adapting to a post-grunge music scene.

Read More: The Album After Grunge Hit – How 16 Rock Stars Changed Their Sound

Reflecting on the album and examining the individual photos of the band members on Balance‘s inner sleeve, Hagar remarked: “Look – four pissed off people! It’s so crazy because going into the studio without wanting to be there was tough.”

“It required more effort than previous albums,” Anthony added. “There was… a lot of seriousness.” The pair primarily blamed Eddie Van Halen, claiming that the guitarist scrutinized them closely while they were recording their parts.

“It really would annoy me,” Hagar expressed, “I’m sitting there waiting for Ed to stop complaining about things he hasn’t even heard yet. So [producer] Bruce [Fairbairn] said ‘f— this, come on we’re going to Canada.’

Hagar ended up recording his vocal parts in a booth at Bryan Adams’ home, and he mentioned that the Van Halen brothers (Eddie and drummer Alex) had no choice but to acknowledge his success when they heard the results: “I remember Ed looking at Al saying, ‘yeah…this is pretty good, we can’t poke holes in this.’

What Does Van Halen’s Expanded ‘Balance’ Reissue Include?

An expanded edition of Balance was released last month. This edition features the B-side “Crossing Over,” two tracks included in the Twister soundtrack, and nine previously unreleased live tracks from the Balance tour.