Sammy Hagar & The Circle – Crazy Times

My scathing review of the last Sammy Hagar “album”, Lockdown 2020, likely blew any opportunity I’d ever have to interview the Red Rocker (Trust me folks, I’ve tried.) In hindsight, maybe I was a bit too harsh. Why on earth would I critique a collection of mostly covers recorded via Zoom in the same manner as an album of all original music? In my defense, a year into the government mandated lockdown, I had gone a little stir crazy. This, compounded with a raging drinking habit and a nasty breakup, only made matters worse.

Now looking back on that “album” for what it was, I’m still not entirely sold on it. Yes, even of a sober and positive disposition, I view it as unfulfilling at best and a throwaway at worst. The point being, I looked forward to the next release of ORIGINAL music from Hagar and his backing band of all-star friends, The Circle. This is especially considering I enjoyed their last release, Space Between (2019), far more than I expected. The same can be said for their latest album, Crazy Times, which despite a few drastic missteps, is a mostly enjoyable effort.

From the looks of the cover and song titles, I suspect this is supposed to be Hagar’s “post-pandemic album”. After all, just the album title speaks for itself. These are indeed Crazy Times, especially when the guy who wrote “Three Lock Box” is waxing poetic on today’s troubled happenings. In Hagar’s defense, his lyrics are largely abstract, which works well with the music of this album. Aside from the “happy ending” that is “2120”, Crazy Times is quite the unpredictable listen, largely centered on raw hard rock that ranges from the dark and unsettling (“Slow Drain”) to the psychedelic and droning (“Childhood’s End”).

Gone are the bloated AOR trappings of Hagar’s commercial heyday. On Crazy Times, Hagar strips things down to their barest elements. Sure, there are some big, boisterous hooks (“Feed Your Head”, “Crazy Times”), but they’re executed in such an unorthodox manner that there’s no way in hell they’ll land on mainstream rock radio. It also doesn’t help that these iHeartRadio owned vehicles has settled for playing the same old dreck on repeat for 20+ years now, but I digress. Aside from a couple lackluster singer-songwriter derived cuts (“Be Still”, “Father Time”) and an uncalled for cover of Elvis Costello’s “Pump it Up”, Crazy Times all but makes up for the disappointment that was Lockdown 2020.

In an age where singers half Hagar’s age cancel shows because they can’t actually sing live, Hagar remains a consummate professional, his voice untouched by age, time, and most importantly, studio magic. He’s singing live. The band is playing live. And if you close your eyes, it feels like you’re in the room with Hagar and company, watching them jam out LIVE. This isn’t so much in praise of Hagar, but rather in condemnation of the current state of affairs. When almost 75 year old Sammy Hagar is releasing some of the most genuine hard rock of 2022, these truly are “Crazy Times”.

6 out of 10

Label: UMe

Genre: Hard Rock

For fans of: Chickenfoot, AC/DC, Deep Purple