Gotta say this up front for this album: I’ve never been a Sammy Hagar fan. Wasn’t a big fan of his solo stuff, and didn’t like his stint with Van Halen either. I can’t explain why, but I just never liked his approach to singing.
So, that being said listening to this album was kind of hard. Basically, I got tired of Hagar about halfway through the second song so I just tried to concentrate on the rest of the band as I listened.
Using my kindergarten grading system that I introduced with the last album I ended up giving this one a straight √. It might have been a √+ if anyone but Hagar had been singing, but since the lead singer is obviously a HUGE part of the band it’s awful hard to overcome that.
For instance, I really liked the start of I Don’t Want It but as soon as Hagar got into the action I just kinda had an, “ugh” reaction. Still, when Ronnie Montrose’s guitar was front and center I was really liking it. Honest to goodness that was true with almost every track of this album, so let’s just say that if you could eliminate the vocals this would be a + album.
As with UFO (Eugene’s last selection), I really enjoyed the long, 70s-style jams. If you’re a fan of that and don’t have the same problem with Hagar that I do, then you’ll like this one.
I’ve intentionally avoided reading Eugene & Tim’s reviews so that they don’t skew mine, but if I had to guess I’d say they don’t feel the same way about Hagar that I do. Wish I could explain why he has that effect on me, but it is what it is, so I’m prepared for Eugene to give me his flabbergasted look.
Links & Notes
Befuddled 