We’ve seen a few Sammy Hagar reviews lately, I’ll throw my contribution into the pot, this one is Sammy’s 1979 set ‘Street Machine’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Sammy Hagar
ALBUM: Street Machine
LABEL: Capitol
SERIAL: ST-11983
YEAR: 1979
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Sammy Hagar – guitar, lead vocals * Bill Church – bass, backing vocals * Gary Pihl – guitar, backing vocals * Chuck Ruff – drums, backing vocals * Steve Douglas – saxophone * Mark Jordan – piano
TRACK LISTING: 01 Growing Pains * 02 Child To Man * 03 Trans Am (Highway Wonderland) * 04 Feels Like Love * 05 Plain Jane * 06 Never Say Die * 07 This Planet’s On Fire (Burn In Hell) * 08 Wounded In Love * 09 Falling In Love * 10 Straight To The Top
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
We’ve seen a few Sammy Hagar reviews lately thanks to Jeffrey343. I’ll throw my contribution into the pot, as Eric and Dangerzone have also contributed to the Hagar history too. This one is Sammy’s 1979 set ‘Street Machine’. At this stage of his career, Hagar hadn’t hit paydirt yet, this would occur a few years later. It was his fifth solo LP up to this point, and contains a couple of useful songs, but isn’t (IMO) a standout performer as his 1977 ‘Red’ album was, for instance.
The Songs
Still, I occasionally get a kick out of some of these tunes. The rumbling ‘Feels Like Love’ is one of these, reminding me of Bad Company. ‘Plain Jane’ also appeals with its electric meets acoustic collision, played in a Boston like style.
I like the pumping guitar and bass of the opener ‘Growing Pains’, while ‘Child To Man’ is played in a southern rock style.. think Blackfoot at their most acoustic. ‘Trans Am’ is par for the course with Sammy, a tune about a fast car, something that’s he sung about before and after.
Probably the best known track from this set is ‘This Planet’s On Fire (Burn In Hell)’, a real red rocker and a great live track over the years. ‘Wounded In Love’ is a reasonable track too, but the odd one out is the hillbilly ‘Straight To The Top’, surely a different way to wind down the album.
In Summary
‘Street Machine’ has been reissued on numerous occasions since its original release, but so far, ‘Street Machine’ is the only CD of Hagar’s back-catalogue to be reissued by Rock Candy Records. All of Hagar’s albums through this timeframe are pretty easy to pick up.
Sammy Hagar on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
