Before 1985, when Sammy Hagar became the second frontman for Van Halen, he had a fairly successful career as a solo artist. Unboxed compiles his best songs from the decade before he replaced Diamond Dave. In truth, this is... more » probably the best way to hear Hagar solo because, like David Lee Roth and Joe Walsh, Hagar's individual records were never really strong enough to stand alone. Standout tracks on Unboxed include "Heavy Metal," a murky, futuristic cut recorded for the film of same name, the bluesy, blustery "Three Lock Box," and the anthemic radio cut "I Can't Drive 55." In 1997, Hagar left Van Halen to recharge his solo career. --Jon Wiederhorn« less
Before 1985, when Sammy Hagar became the second frontman for Van Halen, he had a fairly successful career as a solo artist. Unboxed compiles his best songs from the decade before he replaced Diamond Dave. In truth, this is probably the best way to hear Hagar solo because, like David Lee Roth and Joe Walsh, Hagar's individual records were never really strong enough to stand alone. Standout tracks on Unboxed include "Heavy Metal," a murky, futuristic cut recorded for the film of same name, the bluesy, blustery "Three Lock Box," and the anthemic radio cut "I Can't Drive 55." In 1997, Hagar left Van Halen to recharge his solo career. --Jon Wiederhorn
"At first, I was surprised that this greatest hits only had 12 songs on it. That is because I'm used to "Greatest Hits" CDs that are half crap filler songs. This CD clocks in at a cool 50 minutes and you get hit after hit. I'm surprised how much care seems to have been put into this collection since I read Sammy basically released it to fulfill a contract obligation. This compiliation is primarily from his four mega-successful mid 80's solo albums when he left behind kinda silly party anthems like "Cruisin' & Boozin" and "Trans Am Wonderland" for more intelligent tunes like "I'll Fall in Love Again" and "Two Sides of Love". Of course, there are plenty of tunes to bang your head and do air guitar to like "Heavy Metal", "One Way to Rock", and "I Don't Need Love". Minor complaint, I would replace "Buying My Way Into Heaven" with "VOA". Otherwise, rock solid."
It's great but incomplete
John Alapick | Wilkes-Barre, PA United States | 10/02/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Unboxed is a great compliation of the best of Sammy Hagar's solo stuff from the '80s. Every track here is great, including the two new tracks. Whether it's radio-friendly hard rock ("Baby's On Fire", "Two Sides Of Love", "I'll Fall In Love Again"), heavier riff-based material ("Heavy Metal", "I Don't Need Love", "Three Lock Box") or ballads ("Give To Live", "Eagles Fly"), everything here is first rate. "I Can't Drive 55" and "There's Only One Way To Rock" are fantastic rock anthems, with the latter being one of the best concert opening songs ever. The two new songs "High Hopes" and "Buying My Way Into Heaven" are also strong with a great in your face production. So why not 5 stars? It's missing his biggest solo hit "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy", which granted is lightweight compared to the songs featured here, but still if included would make this album a near perfect collection of hard rock. Still, if there's one Sammy Hagar album to own, this is it."
THIS IS THE ONE!
MIKE PHILLIPS | wilmington'de | 01/10/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Don't be fooled by the Best of Sammy Hagar. While its good in its own right,it contains his older hits.This one has all of his classic head-bangers! Heavy Metal, 3 Lock Box, Fall in Love Again,... they're all there! In fact the only reason that this isn't a 5 star Cd is because it is missing the early works on his best of.. like Sittin on the Dock of the Bay and I've Done Everything for You! Here's hoping a 3rd greatest hits is in the works which will contain all of these, and new hits like Mas Tequila! I'm so glad he's out of Van Halen!"
Sammy Hagar Unboxed
Gitters | Allendale, IL United States | 10/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sammy Hagar Unboxed is full of great tunes. It collects 10 classic songs from Hagar's years at Geffen records, and adds to new songs High Hopes and Buying My Way into Heaven. All the tracks on Unboxed come from Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, Voa, and Sammy Hagar a.k.a. I Never Said Goodbye only overlooking HSAS Through the Fire that came out in between VOA and Sammy Hagar. Unboxed contains most of Hagar's hits from 1982-1987. Although Unboxed is a great set, Sammy Hagar deserves much better, and I'm aware of the Essential Red Collection released last year. When are they going to get it right? It's about time they released a double disc set combining his Montrose hits, with his hits on Capitol,Geffen, and MCA Hagar deserves a complation that covers his whole career. This man is a rock n roll icon, over three decades of rock and only a couple of single disc complations for this guy!!"
Sammy rocks!
Brad | CT | 08/02/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the ultimate Sammy collection for fans of his in the headbanging '80's years. Yes, the exclusion of "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy" (his highest-charting solo hit) is a surprise, but you soon get over that considering the other material on here. "High Hopes", a new track which opens the collection, rocks as hard as anything on here--Sammy proves here that he still had it in or out of Van Halen. All the songs are standouts, particularly the classic "I Can't Drive 55", the fist-pumping "There's Only One Way To Rock", the searing "Three Lock Box", and the catchy pop-rocker "Two Sides Of Love". You truly can't ask for a much more rocking and upbeat collection than this. A must-own for any fan of the Sammy Van Halen years or fans of the man himself."