Musical Chairs in Bloomington, MN

One of
Sammy Hagar
's rawest recordings,
Musical Chairs
features some guitars that are a treat for listeners fond of the much tougher, uncompromising music that
Hagar
used throughout the '70s to build one of the largest followings for an American
hard rock
solo artist. With a strong backing lineup that included former
Montrose
alum
Denny Carmassi
(drums),
Bill Church
(bass), and
Alan Fitzgerald
(keys),
's music comes off lean and mean. Thanks especially to
himself and longtime musical associate
Gary Pihl
, the riffing on
separates the recording from many
issues of the day. Aggressive numbers like
"Turn up the Music"
and
"Straight From the Hip Kid"
do the most sonic damage on this classic red-rocker offering. When
tries to deal with broader lyrical material, as on
"Crack in the World,"
he exposes what would later become a bit of an Achilles heal. While not as bad as the occasionally awkward, jingo-istic, or just plain goofy quasi-political commentary featured most prominently on some of the singer's '80s recordings,
"Crack in the World"
demonstrates
's tendency to reach for lyrical concepts that extend beyond his good-time
rock
specialty. Fortunately,
sticks to the formula during most of
, making it an early career highlight for the singer/guitarist. ~ Vincent Jeffries