Sammy Hagar on the most soulful record Van Halen ever made: “The good and the bad”
Van Halen was never afraid to show their true colours on their albums. While they had the reputation of being everyone’s favourite party band once the 1980s kicked in, their second iteration with Sammy Hagar made them have a lot more heart than anything they could have made with David Lee Roth behind the microphone. ‘The Red Rocker’ was always about writing lyrics that hit close to the bone, and that meant making something that was a bit more heartfelt than what was expected out of hair metal acts.
Then again, no hair metal band was meant to sound passionate outside of a few power ballads. While Van Halen may have accidentally birthed the genre that would eventually give way to bands like Warrant and Winger, they were more interested in making songs that made everyone think, and while there are still Hagar naysayers out there, 5150 is still among the finest records the band ever made.
There are still a handful of tunes that feel like leftovers from the Roth era, but ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’ and ‘Dreams’ proved that Hagar could still manage to make the band sound massive with his soaring voice behind everything. If that was the proof of concept, though, the band were only getting started when they started making albums like For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in the 1990s.
While the records with Hagar do suffer from having a fair bit of bloat on them in places, that’s never usually a problem when working through every good song on the album. Once the band arrived at Balance, though, things started to hit a wall in terms of everyone’s personal relationships. It was clear that Eddie and Hagar had been compromising for too long, and a lot of the record sounds like something that they muscled their way through.
“I think it’s one of the most soulful records, with vocal performance lyrics, and everything else that I’ve ever done in my life.”
sammy hagar
Sure, there are still some good songs like ‘Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do’, but the record as a soul felt like it was released kicking and screaming out the door. Even if it helped bring about the end of the Hagar era of Van Halen in some respects, ‘The Red Rocker’ was never going to apologise for what he put himself through to get those songs on tape.
Compared to every other Van Halen record, Hagar felt that Balance was perfectly titled by showing each side of their musical selves, saying, “That record has comedy and tragedy, you know, the double-edged sword, the good and the bad. I think it’s one of the most soulful records, with vocal performance lyrics and everything else that I’ve ever done in my life.”
A lot of that might also have had to do with the divorce that Hagar was going through at the time. This was his opportunity to leave some of that grief on the record, and listening to songs like ‘Can’t Stop Lovin’ You’ is a perfect way for him to deal with his innermost feelings, even if the marriage didn’t end up working out.
While Van Halen themselves would be nearing the end after this record, that shouldn’t deter anyone from hearing what they did on here. Balance might be far from their most star-studded tracklisting, but anyone willing to see the genuine side of Van Halen will definitely have a good time digging through what made them tick.
