Great Metal Albums of 1981: Sammy Hagar- Standing Hampton

According to Wikipedia, "Standing Hampton" by Sammy Hagar was released in 1982 but other sources state it was actually 1981. I always thought the latter because I remember hearing some of the songs on it in that year. One of these was definitely the track "Heavy Metal" which appears on the soundtrack for the film of the same name, which I covered a few weeks back. Fair dues to the film makers, when they pieced together the songs for the soundtrack, they took them straight from the album and that is a good thing, especially with Sammy's song. Wikipedia says that it is a different version but I am beginning to doubt a lot of what they say because it doesn't sound different to me. Either way, "Heavy Metal" is definitely a mind blowing anthem.

True, "Standing Hampton" starts off with the more airplay oriented "I Fall in Love Again," which isn't a bad song but not as heavy as the others on the album. After the opener, the rest of the album kicks into gear with "There's Only One Way to Rock" and that is definitely heavier and goes on throughout rest of the album, including the heaviest song mentioned above. Great heavy tracks like "Baby It's You," Baby's On Fire" and "Can't Get Loose" go together very well to stamp Sammy firmly on the page of heavy metal. Now, one might think "Sweet Hitchhiker" would make a fantastic closer to a great album and it is a fine song but Sammy goes on better and ends things with a magnificent cover of the famous Janis Joplin jam "Piece of My Heart." I'm sure Janis would be proud of Hagar's efforts on the song.

Track Listing

1. I Fall In Love Again

2. There's Only One Way to Rock

3. Baby's On Fire

4. Can't Get Loose

5. Heavy Metal

6. Baby It's You

7. Surrender

8. Inside Looking In

9. Sweet Hitchhiker

10. Piece of My Heart

[caption id="attachment_1954" align="aligncenter" width="228" class=" "] Sammy Hagar[/caption]

Sammy Hagar- lead vocals, lead guitar

Gary Pihl- guitar, backing vocals

Bill Church- bass, backing vocals

David Lauser- drums, backing vocals

One of the things I really enjoy about writing this blog is the opportunity to go back in time and fully appreciate artists I didn't fully appreciate at the time. It would be another album before I really got listening to Sammy Hagar so in my view, his best was yet to come. "Standing Hampton" was a great stepping stone for him towards greater glory.

Next Post: Anvil- Hard and Heavy

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