After four years and four inconsistent studio albums (bolstered by one strong live collection), Sammy Hagar and Capitol Records\u2014the label that had signed him as a solo artist after his 1975 exit from Montrose\u2014were deep into a rough patch. Hagar\u2019s 1979 album Steet Machine<\/i> suggested that he had diagnosed the main flaw in his previous studio efforts\u2014lack of focus\u2014and was working to address it, but he remained frustrated with a perceived lack of label support.<\/p>\n
The results of his next studio outing tell a story all by themselves: 1980\u2019s Danger Zone<\/i> peaked at #85, Hagar and Capitol parted ways, and the ambitious singer-songwriter-guitarist moved over to upstart Geffen Records. As for why Danger Zone<\/i> stiffed, it doesn\u2019t require a forensic team to figure it out. Here are the top three reasons:<\/p>\n
3. Poor production<\/u>. The Hagar-produced Street Machine<\/i> sounded big but also sharp, with shiny edges adding welcome polish to the group\u2019s hard rock sound. On Danger Zone<\/i>, it feels like Hagar and co-producer\/keyboardist Geoff Workman pushed all the faders to the top of the board, delivering a sonic blizzard where everything is loud* and nothing is sharp. (*With the exception of poor Chuck Ruff\u2019s drums, which sound like they were recorded under a blanket, while guitarist Gary Pihl and bassist Bill Church blast away right in your face.)<\/p>\n
2. Patchy songwriting<\/u>. \u00a0Even the better songs here\u2014the sassy-fun \u201cMiles From Boredom,\u201d the heavy, Floyd-influenced \u201cIn The Night (Entering The Danger Zone),\u201d and sole cover \u201cRun For Your Life,\u201d with Journey\u2019s Steve Perry guesting on harmony vocals\u2014feel like middle-of-the-pack material for Hagar. And the weakest\u2014\u201cBad Reputation,\u201d a cheese plate of pop-rock clich\u00e9s, and \u201cHeartbeat,\u201d a saccharin pop single that reeks of desperation\u2014are downright embarrassing.<\/p>\n
1. Terrible promotion decisions<\/u>. Hindsight is always 20-20, of course, but imagine how differently things might have turned out if Capitol had gotten behind Danger Zone<\/i>\u2019s strongest song, propulsive, anthemic kickoff cut \u201cLove Or Money,\u201d complete with sizzling guitar solos from Journey\u2019s Neal Schon. Instead, the label suits insisted on pushing\u2014you guessed it\u2014\u201cHeartbeat,\u201d which peaked at #67 in its second and final week on the charts.<\/p>\n
It all added up to a major misfire that put the final nail in Hagar\u2019s increasingly unhappy relationship with Capitol. The move to Geffen offered Hagar backing from a label that celebrated him for what he was\u2014a melodic hard rocker with a faithful cult following\u2014rather than trying to force him into a pop star costume that never did fit. The results would speak for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5845],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-47184","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sammy-hagar","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47184"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}