SHshaf_2013

US vocalist and guitarist Sammy HAGAR is a household name in the world of music, primarily for his tenure in Van Halen some decades ago, while an older audience most likely will point towards his background in Montrose as well. These days his band activities appears to mainly revolve around the super group Chickenfoot, in addition to following up his by now long established career as a solo artist. “Sammy Hagar & Friends” was released in 2013 through Italian label Frontiers Music, as a celebration of sorts heralding Hagar’s 40 year long career in music.

Those who have tracked Hagar’s career over the years might find the contents of this album somewhat surprising I guess, as this isn’t a production that revolves all that much around the hard rock Hagar arguably is best known for. Not that this is a production without some vibrant hard rock pieces, but it’s more the fact that just about everything here revolves around material with a foundation in blues, and the ones that don’t have a foot and a half inside Americana oriented material instead. That quite a few of the songs are covers of other artists songs also an aspect that might feel alien to some.

While I generally find many productions of this kind to be not all that interesting, I’ll readily admit that I was rather charmed by this one however. From the opening, sparse purebred blues song Winding Down that opens this album to the darker, vibrant guitar riff and solo driven live in studio take of the blues based hard rocker Going Down, this is a powerful, compelling and most of all uplifting and playful disc, one of those albums that will give you a big, silly grin while listening to it. A perfect companion for car drives, a soundtrack when doing boring chores and you need a lift, or an album to put on to get the party going. Even when touching ground with more careful, Americana tinged material the good mood and vibrancy stays put: Margaritaville a song that have more cliches than a collection of old James Bond movies, and the Hawaii style lap steel on All We Need Is an Island songs than in lesser hands would have made me think about rinsing my ears and brain with something drastic, but in the able hands of Hagar and his friends material I truly enjoyed despite touching grounds with musical styles I generally have a really hard time enjoying. Even the transformation of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus into more of a bare-bone blues based rock affair works well, although I’ll admit that I do find the original to be superior still.

As far as album highlights go, the simple but oh so effective boogie and rockabilly tinged vintage rocker Bad on Fords and Chevrolets is arguably the most vital creation at hand here, in sharp competition with the subtly Americana flavored, light toned blues take on Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man and the dirty, vibrant and utterly playful fireworks of a concluding piece that Going Down is.

While “Sammy Hagar & Friends” isn’t an album that brings anything new to the table in the world of music, it is a joyful, vibrant and fun run through songs penned by others and some originals, the greater majority of them with at least a foot inside of the blues, some in Americana, and all of the songs are fun, uplifting and playful, whether exploring softer atmospheres or if honing in on a more hard rock oriented delivery. A fun album, and one easy to recommend to those who enjoy uplifting, positive and vibrant music that mainly revolves around blues based rock and hard rock. With a high number of notable musical friends of Hagar ensuring that the quality is high in all instrument and vocal departments throughout.

My rating: 86/100