Customer Reviews

Hallelujah

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What I liked most about this CD was that it really showcases the talent of the band members. I was suprised at how well the guitar player did on the VH tunes. I also liked the song selection. As another reviewer pointed out, this would have made for a great double CD. It's just a fun CD to listen to and you can tell Sammy and the band are simply jamming and having a great time. That goes a long way. It's the 1st live CD that I've heard where I could actually see myself at the show. Solid effort.

With live albums, it's a gamble. A lot of great bands put out sub-par live albums that have inferior versions of songs because they sound thin. However, Sammy Hagar has always put out great live albums, such as, "All Night Long" and "Live 1980." The new live disc, "Hallelujah" is another great live album and is best played LOUD. The album sounds as though you are actually at one of his concerts; no overdubs, it sounds real. I would have to argue that the live versions on this disc sound better than the original versions on the studio albums. The band sounds tight and does justice to all the classics. Sure Vic Johnson isn't Eddie Van Halen, but Vic Johnson can hold his own and doesn't try to be. The song selection is great--it follows Sammy's career from Montrose, to his pre-VH solo years, to VH, to his post VH stuff. The album has a nice flow and is the type of disc that you want to play over and over again. Michael Anthony plays on a couple of songs and lends his background vocals, which is cool. Also, Gary Cherone (Hagar's replacement in VH) sings a duet with Sam on "When it's Love." That's especially cool for me, because I was there at the concert when they did it (8/28/'02). If your a fan of Sammy and of VH, then I suggest you buy this album. "Hallelujah" will be in my CD player for a long time to come.

When it comes to the band Van Halen, I may be in the minority when I say that I feel they became a better band when Sammy Hagar was brought in to replace David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist. When it comes to showmanship, David Lee Roth would be a tough act to follow. However Sammy Hagar brought something else to the table - the all-around quality of musicianship. It was that musicianship that elevated Van Halen to even greater heights of creativity. It was that same musicianship that could not be replaced when Gary Cherone was later brought into Van Halen to replace Hagar. I subscribe to the notion that sometimes the best thing for a mature band is to bring in an outsider to join the band. It gives the band fresh ideas and a new perspective. I look at the case of the Rolling Stones bringing Ron Wood in. Ron Wood did much more than play guitar, he became a significant contributor to the band. To me Sammy Hagar, like him or not injected some new life into the Van Halen band and became a significant contributor much like Wood did for the Stones Hagar doesn't just sing, he'll contribute to the songwriting and production of the effort of Van Halen. Like Ron Wood, Hagar had already proven himself to be an accomplished musician. Hagar's outstanding musicianship skills and superb voice have always caught my interest as far as live performances go. That is why I was glad to see that Hagar released his own live collection - "Sammy and the Wabos: Live Hallelujah". It is this collection that showcases his solo career as well as his heritage as a part of Van Halen.

"Live Hallelujah" is one of three main live albums that Hagar has made. In 1980, Hagar released "Live 1980" and in 2002 Hagar released "Greatest Hits Live". The nice thing about "Live Hallelujah" is that all of the songs are tracks that do not appear on these two earlier live albums - this includes such Hagar classics as "I Can't Drive 55", "Mas Tequila", and "Eagles Fly". The most unique feature of "Live Hallelujah" is that this is the only Hagar album that includes some of his Van Halen material. There are four songs from the "Van Hagar" era of Van Halen included on "Live Hallelujah": "Why Can't This Be Love", "When It's Love", "Right Now", and "Dreams". Sammy keeps to his Van Halen heritage with the inclusion of Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony on several tracks ("When It's Love", "Right Now", and "Dreams"). Perhaps the most interesting inclusion is of his successor in Van Halen, Gary Cherone. Cherone sings a duet with Hagar on "When It's Love".

In the liner notes, Hagar gives some background on what went into making this album. Originally he wanted to do a straight album of a 2001 show in St. Louis. However, that show unedited was over 2 1/2 hours. Combine that with some of the additional material Hagar wanted to include both when he toured with David Lee Roth and the times he had Michael Anthony on bass, the project was soon looking to be very long. Therefore the decision was made to shorten the set to fit on one CD. The bulk of the album comes from St. Louis, but there are also cuts from Tampa ("Shaka Doobie", "Rock Candy"); Boston ("When It's Love); Charlotte ("Right Now"); and Fresno ("Dreams"). I don't agree with this decision that Hagar made. With two live albums under his belt, I think a multi-CD set would have really done some good. My preference is normally to include the material from a single night's performance in the same order as it was delivered. This allows for the magic of the show to be captured as it was delivered. Because the St. Louis show is edited, you immediately lose some of the magic of the night. There are "gaps" between songs - and that hurts the collection as a whole. While a single night is my preference, I'm really glad to hear the included "Michael Anthony Tracks" from Boston, Charlotte, and Fresno.

It is the "Van Hagar" material that most intrigues me on this album. Hagar's band - The Wabos do a superb job at supporting him on this collection. While they aren't at the level of having an Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Michael Anthony as your band, they still hold their own. I was most interested to see how Hagar would do with "Right Now" on his own. "Right Now" is my favorite Van Halen song. While Van Halen provided some incredible musicianship on that track, it was ultimately the passionate vocals of Hagar that took that song to a high level. Again while the Wabos aren't a substitute for the four members of Van Halen, they do a creditable job as Hagar provides the necessary intensity. I was originally intrigued by the duet with Cherone and Hagar on "When It's Love", but would be disappointed by the result. I originally thought Cherone was the perfect choice to head Van Halen, however anything he has done with Van Halen has been a disappointment. While this duet isn't bad, it didn't do much for me. I also enjoyed Sammy and the Wabos covers of "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Dreams".

I enjoyed Hagar's spin on "I Can't Drive 55". On the song Hagar takes into account that the federal speed limit is now 65. Meanwhile Hagar brings the necessary intensity to pull off "Mas Tequila" live - this too also works very well.

As mentioned the liner notes include a short write-up by Hagar about how this album came about. I do like how the liner notes give the necessary credits and point out what material is from what show. I would have liked to have seen the actual dates of the shows listed. Overall, still a very good album - highly recommended.

Hagar proudly displays his mid-seventies Montrose roots in the KISS-style ("You wanted the best and you've GOT the best, the hottest band in the world, KISS") intro. It's a real "Hello Cleveland" moment as the announcer shouts, Michael Buffer-style, "Please welcome the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar, and the Waboritas"...followed by the loud, fat slam of a sustained barre chord and the arena-rock rumblings of the second guitar and bass, followed at the 26 second mark by the kick of the drums and the relentlessly catchy, riff-driven theatrics of the opening track "Shaka Doobie." At this point you're either hooked or you've bailed out. In addition to a healthy dose of "Wabo Sammy," you get "Solo Sammy" (Heavy Metal, I Can't Drive 55, Three Lock Box), "VanHagar Sammy" (Top Of The World, Why Can't This Be Love, When It's Love, Right Now, Dreams) and "Montrose Sammy" (Rock Candy). It's a pretty decent overview of what most people love or hate about his music. He's the heavier, louder, perpetually toasted surfer dude equivalent of cult superstar Jimmy Buffett...the reviews will never matter because this man will have an audience as long as he chooses to stand on a stage. Rock On, Sammy...the sky's the limit.

The first time I saw Sammy Hagar live was back in 1978. He was opening for Boston and most people didn't know who he was. That didn't stop Sammy from giving the best show he could. As I remember he jumped off the drum riser and ran around the stage a lot. Unfortunately, it was a lot of energy spent to little effect. The crowd was there for Boston. "Lets get on with the show, man!" Fast forward to 2003: the huge investment of energy now comes out through the music. I was surprised how many of these tracks just rock and burn with high voltage. I have been a Sammy fan for years but even this live CD surprised me with delight. Surely one of the very best "little records" of 2003.

This live album shows Sammy Hagar's energy and committment to his music. Sammy's band is tight and has many guest appearances such as Gary Cherone (who replaced Sammy in VH) and Micheal Anthony (Current Bassist for VH). The songs are all classics and this cd could have easily been 2 or 3 discs if he put all of his hits on it. The range of songs are from his early days in Montrose to his solo career to Van HAlen and then back to solo again which gives the listener a small idea of how long the Red Rocker has been delivering great tunes.
The songs are unbelievable with the hard rocking "One way to Rock" to his latest "Shaka Doobie" but his Van Halen songs "When Its Love" and "Right Now" are just killer. The music you hear on this CD is just like it sounds when you are at Sammy's live shows because I was at the Boston show that produced "When Its Love" and listening to it brought me right back. This is one of those CDs that you alweays go back to when you are undecided what to listen to. Rock On with a underrated live album.

When searching for a live album featuring Sammy Hagar, there are a few to chose from, but this album gives you the best selection of songs with his current band (yes, he is touring with VH, but that will always be Eddie's band).

Pros:
Great song selection - 16 live and 1 recorded song.
No audience dubbing - just straigh shows with the real crowd.
No studio dubbing - this is the music as it was played in the shows.
Great band - VH may be good, but the Waboritas have refined their sound over the years and have a lot more energy.

Cons:
Size - this really should be a two disc set, Sammy acknowledges this in the liner notes.
VH song selection - The Van Halen songs included are true Hagar tunes, but it would have been great to hear his band belt out the great hits like Cabo Wabo or Best of Both Worlds.

Like I said, this album is better than Live: Right Here, Right Now and Without a Net as those albums are Studio Live albums. Redubbed and added audience. This album has great re-play value. Have not gotten tired of this album yet.

Truly one of the best live cds out there today. Sammy Hagar puts his all into his songs and live shows. This cd is a must for all Sammy Hagar fans. If you have never seen him in concert this is the next best thing. Also check out his band from 1984 called HSAS which they only released one cd before he became the new singer for Van Halen. The cd is called Through The Fire and is also one of his best cds song for song.

There's some great music on this DVD-A. But the mix is inconsistant. Some songs are great surround mixes. Some are OK and some are just awful. I found myself constant tweaking the audio to get the kind of quality I'm used to with DVD-A, as the mix quality actually varies from song to song. It's a shame because the performance itself it great - but the sound engineer should be flogged.

Downloaded Sammy Hagar's autobiography from audible.com and have been enjoying it so much I decided I needed to fill in some of the missing pieces of his albums. Never did have a live version and man this one is excellent.