Sammy Hagar has always seemed like he was a man torn by his two
passions. On one hand, he can be a very powerful singer addressing
more sensitive issues – well, issues you probably wouldn’t expect
to find in the world of hard rock. On the other hand, he seems to
want to be a typical screamer who bangs his head faster than the
Tasmanian Devil on crystal meth.
The two worlds collided on his 1981 effort
Standing Hampton, which turned out to be a great half-album
– and it isn’t the duality which sinks it, it’s the
songwriting.
Hagar displays the more thoughtful side on the album’s opening
track, “I’ll Fall In Love Again,” a song which has enough muscle to
appeal to the rock fan, but the lyrics are incredibly powerful. I’m
willing to bet that most people who listen to this song will be
able to relate to Hagar’s cleaning up a broken heart.
When Hagar gets thoughtful, he creates some of his best music.
“Can’t Get Loose” is an example of trying to conquer that which
holds you down, backed with a building melody. It might take a
listen or two to get into it, but it’s worth the effort.
But Hagar can’t deny his own roots, and often wants to go
balls-out in his delivery. Songs like “There’s Only One Way To
Rock” and “Heavy Metal” are examples of this, and despite titles
which smack of cliches, they are decent efforts. (However, there is
one portion of “There’s Only One Way To Rock” where the chord used
in the vocals doesn’t sound like it meshes with the guitar chord.
Oh, well.)
The first half of
Standing Hampton is an incredible 21 minutes of rock and
roll to feed both your brain and your adrenaline. Unfortunately, it
seems like Hagar blew his load at the conclusion of the side; the
remaining four original songs just don’t hold up as well. “Sweet
Hitchhiker” and “Baby, It’s You” just don’t hold their water that
well when compared to the first half of the album.
The big mistake here is “Piece Of My Heart,” a cover of the old
Big Brother And The Holding Company bong-fest theme. Hagar tries to
make the song his own, and tries to inject a bit of heavy metal
seasoning into the track. Sorry, Sammy, but you’re tampering with a
legend, and it just doesn’t fly. I constantly found myself waiting
for Janis Joplin to start singing, especially in the chorus, and
the guitar work just isn’t the same. It’s really hard to re-create
a mood 15 years after it ended.
So is
Standing Hampton a success or a failure? In one sense, it
really doesn’t fail; it still is an entertaining way to spend the
better part of an hour, and I can think of worse albums you could
select. If you’re a Hagar fan or enjoyed his stay with Van Halen,
then you’ll get a kick out of this one for sure. But more often
than not you start wondering about what this album could have been,
had the songwriting remained solid throughout. Still, it’s not a
bad album – just approach it with a bit of caution.
