When
Sammy Hagar's 11 years with
Van Halen came to an end, he delivered some of the best solo albums of his career. The rocker's post-
Van Halen albums weren't much different from his pre-
Van Halen albums of the late '70s and early to mid-'80s --
Hagar was still playing the type of commercial hard rock and arena rock that put him on the map, and he was doing so with a lot of conviction. The Californian was in his early fifties when
Red Voodoo came out in 1999, but it hardly sounds like the work of someone who was mellowing with age. Ballsy, in-your-face rockers like "Mas Tequila" (which incorporates
Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2"), "Don't Fight It (Feel it)," "Shag," and the
AC/DC-ish "High and Dry Again" and are oozing with confidence -- -in fact, it's almost as though
Hagar is shaking his fist at the
Van Halen brothers and letting them know that he can do quite well without them, thank you. To some proponents of '90s alternative rock,
Hagar and other arena rock veterans were anachronistic -- and, to be sure, this CD won't win any awards for being innovative or groundbreaking. Nonetheless,
Red Voodoo is among the most passionate, focused, and inspired albums of
Hagar's career. ~ Alex Henderson