Album Review — Sammy Hagar & The Circle

Sammy Hagar & The Circle — Lockdown 2020

To kick off 2021 we get a compilation from 2020. Sammy Hagar & The Circle released a bunch of tracks during the lockdown and they have compiled them for an album. There is one new song, a few Van Halen tracks and quite a few covers.

I’ll start off by saying that just about every song is only about half the song. So even on the tracks I really like, it feels like I’m getting cheated.

The new track, “Funky Feng Shui”, is fun and upbeat. The song has some potential but like just about everything here, it feels incomplete.

“Won’t Get Fooled Again” is a song Sammy used to do with Van Halen. Sammy has a great voice for doing Who tracks and it’s especially true with this song. Just wish it was the full track.

5150 track “Good Enough” is next. It’s pretty amazing to hear Sammy sound as good as he did in 1986. It’s a cool version albeit only 2 minutes long.

The Bob Marley track, “Three Little Birds”, is a nice change. I’m not sure I want to hear a lot of these guys doing Bob Marley tunes, but it works here.

Bob Marley into AC/DC. Sure, why not? It was 2020. I have to remind myself Sammy is in his 70s as I listen to him tear through “Whole Lotta Rosie”. We basically get the entire song which is nice. One of the better tracks.

Buffalo Springfield cover “For What It’s Worth” is next for a strange trifecta. As with the original, it’s mostly acoustic and works well.

If you were to guess what was next, I’m betting Little Richard wouldn’t be in your first 1,000 guesses. But here it is, including a similar but shorter drum intro from Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll”. Unexpected but a fun version even at 97 seconds.

“Right Now” without keyboards is a nice twist and gives this version something unique to it. It’s slightly slowed down so it drags a bit in the chorus. But I like this different version.

One of my favorite Hagar era Van Halen songs is up next. “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do) is next and sounds really good. There are some differences that change the song a bit but it really works. I’m really happy they did this track even though they cut some of it out.

Sammy solo song “Sympathy for The Human” is up next. Of all the Sammy solo songs they could have picked, this one surprised me a bit but I like this version.

The album closes with David Bowie’s “Heroes”. When I think of Sammy’s voice, I don’t think of David Bowie. But Sammy finds a way. You can almost hear Sammy holding back through the first verse. This is one of the few songs that sounds like a complete track.

Overall, it’s an interesting mix of songs and the band sounds great. I just wish they didn’t cut so many of the songs. If you can’t tell by now, it really bugs me.

If you take this for what it is, just four guys having some fun with some great songs, it’s a fun listen. But I’m having a hard time thinking of it as a full album.

80 out of 100

Track Listing

1. “Funky Feng Shui”
2. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (The Who) *
3. “Good Enough” (Van Halen) *
4. “Three Little Birds” (Bob Marley)
5. “Whole Lotta Rosie” (AC/DC) *
6. “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield)
7. “Keep a-Knockin’” (Little Richard)
8. “Right Now” (Van Halen) *
9. “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)” (Van Halen) *
10. “Sympathy for the Human” (Sammy Hagar)
11. “Heroes” (David Bowie) *

*Best Songs