Not 4 Sale

by Greg PratoYou've got to hand it to Sammy Hagar for proving the Van Halen brothers wrong. When he exited the group in 1997, Alex and Eddie blamed Hagar's supposed lack of 'work ethic' as the main reason for the downfall of Van Hagar. But during the subsequent years immediately after the split, Hagar issued a total of four studio albums, while Van Halen could only muster one -- the horrible misfire Van Halen III. And while Van Halen seemed quite unsure what they wanted to do musically, Hagar stuck to his guns -- issuing such classic Hagar-esque releases as 2002's Not 4 Sale. By this point in his career, Hagar knows he's playing to the already converted -- no point in trying to win over the young pop worshipping whippersnappers -- so there are few surprises here. "Stand Up" and "Halfway to Memphis" are exactly what you'd expect from Hagar, while the Led Zeppelin tribute, "Whole Lotta Zep," gives the listener the feeling that they've just walked into Cabo Wabo on the night of a hot Hagar-led jam. With quite a few rock veterans trying to update their sound with modern touches and failing miserably come the early 21st century, Hagar wisely sticks to his bread and butter on Not 4 Sale.