Sammy Hagar: Van Halen Took 'Easy Route,' Lack Creativity on New Album

Steve Lawton, FilmMagic

There are a couple of ways to look at Van Halen's forthcoming 12th album, 'A Different Kind of Truth,' which features reworked versions of songs originally written in the '70s. One interpretation: The band is reaching back to a beloved era in its history to give fans exactly what they want. Former frontman Sammy Hagar, has a slightly different interpretation.

"What I've heard so far, I wasn't impressed with at all," Hagar told Radio Metal. "I think they chose to take the easy route and take some of their old stuff and re-record it instead of writing new songs ... I don't think the fans are going to be happy with it."

The album arrives 14 years after Van Halen's last album -- 1998's little-loved, Gary Cherone-helmed 'Van Halen III' -- and is the first in 28 years to feature original lead singer David Lee Roth. For those reasons alone, 'A Different Kind of Truth' might prove a hot seller, but Hagar insists that wouldn't change the fact that Diamond Dave and the Van Halen boys -- guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex -- have essentially recycled old material.

"What is important to me is that, as artists, why would you do that?" said Hagar, who last played with the group in 2004 and now fronts Chickenfoot, a supergroup featuring another former Van Halen member, bassist Michael Anthony.

"To me, it makes a strange statement," the Red Rocker added. "It kind of says, 'We don't have anything, we're not a band anymore, we're not creative."

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