Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Hagar, Sammy
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release: 2008
Length: 43:39
Rating: 2.9/5
American rock singer and guitarist Sammy Hagar kicked off his long musical journey in the early seventies with the well-known California band Montrose. With them he cut a killer debut album that’s still one of the best things California hard rock has ever served up. Hagar left home in his tender teens. He didn’t get along with his father, who beat him constantly. Later he made a living boxing, and toward the end of the seventies he launched his solo career. His subsequent projects, besides the solo records, included the 1981 film Heavy Metal, where he sang Otis Redding’s Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay, and in 1984 a record with the supergroup HSAS, which featured Journey guitarist Neal Schon, Santana’s drummer Michael Shrieve and versatile bassist Kenny Aaronson. A year later he joined what is perhaps the biggest California band in rock history besides the Doors – Van Halen. There he replaced David Lee Roth. He’s been a superstar ever since, of course, and sang with Van Halen in two stints, from 1985 to 1996 and from 2003 to 2005. On Cosmic Universal Fashion he carries on down his musical road, this time without The Waboritas, who had been at his side since 1997. Sammy Hagar has racked up a few solid albums in his solo career, and even without bandmates from big-name groups he can conjure up soundscapes that are mostly pretty invigorating. A few familiar names did pitch in anyway, and Neal Schon is an important one. He and Hagar already worked together in the mid-eighties, and they used Psycho Vertigo and Peephole for Cosmic Universal Fashion, leftovers from the never-realized project Planet Us, which they were trying to get off the ground at the start of this millennium. Because of clashing schedules the band never came to life, and Sammy Hagar is announcing a supergroup and an album called Chickenfoot for this year, featuring guitarist Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony. More on that once the record is out. Other collaborators include guitarists Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Billy Duffy of The Cult, plus former Guns ‘n’ Roses drummer and current Velvet Revolver member Matt Sorum. Sammy Hagar is known as a crafty songwriter, since the songs on the record are built to prove their vocal and technical quality with every listen. His collaboration with the little-known New Yorker John Eddie, who emailed Sammy a song hoping for some kind of reply, paid off. Hagar liked it. It’s called Loud.
On Cosmic Universal Fashion Sammy Hagar once again showed he can still write great rock bombs as well as thoughtful ballads. On a few tracks he also dips into country and even r ‘n ‘b, which works out pretty well. Clearly the old tomcat has been around the block and knows every trick in the book. Cosmic universal Fashion is solid, workmanlike stuff, but for a man of sixty-one there’s a bit too much singing about teenage parties and raising hell. Hagar has no money worries, so he can put whatever songs he likes on his records. Of course, not everything is pure gold, and with a little more thought he and his collaborators could have polished the picture here and there. You can never have too many listeners, so he included a cover of Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right, which is pretty much completely unnecessary. The last track is a mashup of the Van Halen-era hits Dreams and Cabo Wabo, recorded live at his estate in Mexico. It might have been better off on some live album, and with that one the record comes out pretty inconsistent. Still, Sammy Hagar undoubtedly remains one of the best singers in hard rock.
Lineup
Sammy Hagar – vocals, guitar
Michael Anthony – bass
Matt Sorum – drums
Billy Duffy – guitar
Billy Gibbons – guitar
Production
Bob Daspit, Sammy Hagar
Track list
1. Cosmic Universal Fashion – 3:33
2. Psycho Vertigo – 5:03
3. Peephole – 4:20
4. Loud – 3:55
5. Fight for Your Right to Party – 3:48
6. Switch on the Light – 3:17
7. When the Sun Don’t Shine – 4:15
8. 24365 – 3:58
9 I’m on a Roll – 2:40
10. Dreams/Cabo” – 8:50
