Sammy Hagar - Danger Zone (1995)

An early studio recording featuring perhaps the best, or at least most popular, backing band lineup, Danger Zone is not up to the standard of Sammy Hagar's best material: be it the earliest, hardest rocking music (most notably, the debut Montrose effort) or his very successful early '80s MOR rock. "The red rocker" does put together a couple nice moments, displaying the deft songwriting that would keep him on top of the hard rock sales and radio charts for well over 20 years. Songs like "20th Century Man" and "Love or Money" definitely drive this relatively heavy Hagar offering, and the Bay Area musician slows things down nicely on "Run for Your Life." There are a couple soft spots on the Danger Zone's track list, and when that is coupled with that fact that no real essential Hagar anthems or radio hits exist on this release, it can only be recommended to serious fans of the artist.