Sammy Hagar Not Impressed With New Van Halen

While chatting with Radio Metal, Hagar was asked how he is feeling now that VH are releasing a new album. "Oh, I'm okay with those guys doing whatever they want to do," says Sammy. "What I've heard so far, I wasn't impressed with at all, personally. I think in Chickenfoot, we've raised the bar a little bit on what a four-piece rock band can do, and I think they chose to take the easy route and take some of their old stuff and and re-record it instead of writing new songs. Who is Van Halen today? I don't know, I don't think the fans are going to be happy with it. I couldn't care less if it's the biggest album of the year, that wouldn't be important to me, what is important to me is that, as artists, why would you do that? They haven't released an album since my last album in something like 1991 or '92, (Ed. note: "VHIII" was issued in 1998) and then they just go back. To me it makes a strange statement, it kind of says 'We don't have anything, we're not a band anymore, we're not creative.' Isn't it a strange statement to you?"

Radio Metal: Do you think this was intentional? I mean, as a band it's normal to have some habits, some patterns, some ways of composing that come back, so do you think it really was intentional? Hagar: I don't know. To be honest with you, the last time I was around those guys was in 2004 on the reunion. It was a disaster, it was horrible, Eddie was in a really bad shape, I wrote about it a lot in my book. And I don't know what they're thinking to be honest with you. Because if they were thinking at all, they would certainly have Mikey in there playing bass. So I don't know what they're thinking. I believe it was probably intentional because I don't think they had any choice. If they had had a choice they would've done all new stuff. From today. They would've written together like a band.