Sometime after his acrimonious departure from
Van Halen
,
Sammy Hagar
decided that it would be best if he turned himself into a
hard rock
version of
Jimmy Buffett
. Since he already had his Cabo Wabo Cantina in San Lucas, plus his Cabo Wabo tequila, he was already halfway there -- he was celebrating the beach as much as he was playing music -- but with his 2006 album
Livin' It Up!
he finally makes the musical transition to full-time beachfront rockin'. Not that this is the manic, balls-out
that made his reputation -- taking a cue from
Jimmy
Sammy
turns the intensity down a couple of notches (after all, you don't want things to be too rough and rowdy on a beach), adds some acoustic guitars, and even some
country-rock
flair, most notably in his ingenious reworking of
Toby Keith
's
"I Love This Bar."
The fact that
is covering a
country
song about a bar gives a good indication of where he's coming from on
: he's aiming for the aging rock & rollers who have started listening to
, but still love classic
rock
(he covers
Dylan
"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"
and rewrites
the Staple Singers
'
"I'll Take You There"
as
"Let Me Take You There"
) and spend most of their time fantasizing about
"Living on a Coastline"
or
"Sailin"
to
"Mexico"
or taking
"One Sip"
as they drive
"Halfway to Mexico,"
knowing that they'll do this all
"Someday."
It's silly and obvious -- and it also feels like an advertisement for Cabo Wabo enterprises -- which would be irritating if the album weren't so much fun. The thing is,
really believes in
in this fashion, so nothing feels forced or contrived here, and the greater musical variety not only makes this record more interesting than his last several records, it also makes it more fun to listen to repeatedly. Plus, having the hints of
blues
, and
soul
scattered among the
rock & roll
sounds appropriate for a veteran rocker, which
certainly is. But as
proves, not even veterans need to settle down -- an introspective record would sound wrong coming from
Hagar
, and this nonstop beach party simply sounds right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine