{"id":15280,"date":"2013-09-30T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=15280"},"modified":"2013-11-19T17:55:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T17:55:24","slug":"album-review-sammy-hagar-sammy-hagar-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-sammy-hagar-sammy-hagar-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"SAMMY HAGAR – Sammy Hagar & Friends (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAMMY HAGAR
Sammy Hagar & Friends<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFrontiers (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sammy Hagar is a man who needs no introduction anywhere hard rock or heavy metal has touched. From his early days with Montrose through solo success and his time as frontman of Van Halen and now Chickenfoot, Hagar is a living legend. Everyone who owned a radio in the 80s knows hits like \u2018I Can\u2019t Drive 55\u2019 and \u2018Give To Live\u2019.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever wondered what Sammy Hagar does in his spare time, Sammy Hagar & Friends<\/em> seems to be the answer. On this release the Red Rocker and a bunch of his musician pals sound like their having a blast in the studio, offering a mix of new songs and covers.<\/p>\n

This sense of fun is what makes Sammy Hagar & Friends<\/em> a worthy listen. A light-hearted blues rock approach permeates these songs, even turning a cover of Depeche Mode\u2019s \u2018Personal Jesus\u2019 into an upbeat rocker. \u2018Bad On Fords And Chevrolets\u2019 rocks with a Georgia Satellites good time southern feel, and features guest vocals by Ronnie Dunn of Brooks And Dunn fame. Jimmy Buffet\u2019s \u2018Margaritaville\u2019 also sees Hagar teaming up with country royalty as he shares vocals with Toby Keith in a rendition of the classic song that sounds like it has its roots around the fire at a backyard party. <\/p>\n

Part of the charm of Sammy Hagar & Friends<\/em> is how songs of various styles are reinvented into a cohesive album. Where else do you find Depeche Mode, Jimmy Buffett and Bob Seger songs sitting comfortably side by side? Seger\u2019s \u2018Ramblin\u2019 Gamblin\u2019 Man\u2019 is the closest to a straight cover on this release, and even that gets a little extra guitar power and Sammy\u2019s distinctive gritty vocals.<\/p>\n

Beyond covers, the original songs presented span genres as well. \u2018All We Need Is An Island\u2019, including vocals from Heart\u2019s Ann Wilson, has a Hawaiian groove, complete with steel guitar and hand percussion. \u2018Going Down\u2019 is recorded live in the studio by Hagar, Neal Schon, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith. The result is the most rocking song on the release, and also the most reminiscent of Hagar\u2019s days at the top of the metal heap in the 80s. <\/p>\n

The list of guests on Sammy Hagar & Friends<\/em> is staggeringly long. Chickenfoot alum Joe Satriani appears, as well as Sammy\u2019s son Aaron, Kid Rock, and former Montrose bandmates Denny Carmassi and Bill Church. Listening to these songs, it\u2019s impossible to think that an average day off for Sammy Hagar doesn\u2019t revolve around drinks, music and friends.<\/p>\n

This release may not redefine Sammy Hagar as an artist, but it probably wasn\u2019t meant to. What it does do is provide ten tracks (12 if you purchase the Deluxe Edition) of feel good party rock. This is a logical step forward from Sammy and the Wabos, and will be welcomed by Sammy Hagar\u2019s legion of fans. <\/p>\n

Jim McDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAMMY HAGARSammy Hagar & Friends Frontiers (2013)Rating: 7\/10 Sammy Hagar is a man who needs no introduction anywhere hard rock or heavy metal has touched. From his early days with Montrose through solo success and his time as frontman of Van Halen and now Chickenfoot, Hagar is a living legend. Everyone who owned a radio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,817],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-sammy-hagar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15280"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15286,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15280\/revisions\/15286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}