Sammy Hagar Calls Van Halen Album “Too Boring” and Says He Nearly Quit Over It
via Sammy Hagar / YouTube
Van Halen’s Shift in Style
Rock music has always been about fun. The worst thing a band can do is take themselves too seriously. Many big mistakes in rock history come from artists trying to sound deep but ending up sounding overly serious. Van Halen was never supposed to be that type of band when they first got started.
Eddie Van Halen focused on creating great riffs, but David Lee Roth wasn’t the kind of frontman to sing about deep topics. He wanted to be larger than life, like Frank Sinatra, always putting on a confident and flashy show. Roth helped keep things wild and fun, even if he was wearing things like assless chaps onstage.
View this post on Instagram
Sammy Hagar’s Frustration
Eventually, the band’s wild style began to feel worn out. Sammy Hagar brought in a more serious tone during his time with the band, but that didn’t come without problems. While Van Halen still released playful songs like “Poundcake,” their later albums didn’t feel as fun.
By the time they made Balance, Hagar had started to feel tired. He explained, “I got bored on the Balance record. It started becoming work to just write lyrics and melodies to Eddie’s music. I was interested on the next record in trying to break that mould, because otherwise I was just bored with the band, and I probably would have quit in another year or two – if it had continued like that.”
A Record That Felt “Just Okay”
Balance wasn’t a complete disaster. It may have been too long compared to earlier albums, but when compared to For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, it didn’t feel like a complete mess either. Still, that might have been the biggest issue — it was just okay.
Van Halen was never a band known for being “just okay.” Even an album like Van Halen III, which confused a lot of fans, got people talking. But Balance didn’t leave much of a reaction. It didn’t excite fans or make them angry—it just faded out.
A Few Bright Spots, But Not Enough
Hagar was clear about how drained he felt during that time. “I got bored on the Balance record. It started becoming work to just write lyrics and melodies to Eddie’s music,” he repeated in an interview. Songs like “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” and “Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do” had strong ideas. Even “Amsterdam” showed some spark.
But with odd choices like starting the album with a Gregorian chant on “The Seventh Seal,” Balance didn’t offer enough for fans to come back to. Outside the big hits, the album felt like proof that the group needed a new direction.
