Just shy of his 75th birthday, Sammy Hagar is somehow as energized by and committed to the pure power of rock’n’roll as he was fronting Montrose in the 1970s and Van Halen from 1985-1996. Indeed, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and entrepreneur has conjured the very best of his legendary career on his 27th studio album, Crazy Times, which finds him backed by his longtime band The Circle: bassist, former Van Halen bandmate and fellow Rock Hall member Michael Anthony, guitarist Vic Johnson and drummer Jason Bonham, all of whom remain at the peak of their collective games.

It would be easy for Hagar to rest on his considerable laurels at this stage of his life or just kick up his feet on the beach at his famed Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico. But try as he might, he still can’t resist making music with the guys he loves. Enter producer Dave Cobb, who has won eight Grammys working with artists such as Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile, and grew up obsessively listening to Hagar in all his many projects. After being introduced a couple years ago, the pair initially discussed making more of an Americana-leaning album with acoustic instruments, but Cobb instead suggested bringing The Circle to Nashville’s RCA Studio A to make what he hoped would turn into “the definitive Sammy Hagar record” — one that rattles the speakers and encourages fist-pumping of the highest order.

Crazy Times is the follow-up to The Circle’s lauded 2019 debut Space Between, a multi-category No. 1 album on the Billboard charts. Hagar says, “Dave was looking to pull in all the elements so that when you hear this record, you’re gonna shout, ‘Oh, hell yeah! This sounds like Montrose meets Van Halen meets Led Zeppelin!’ We cut everything live, but it wasn’t until we got into the studio that Dave would get in Jason’s face and say, ‘Come on! Give me your favorite lick your dad ever did for this drum fill. And then, take it beyond that and go crazy.’ He knew what buttons to push to get Jason to do what he wanted, and he wanted John Bonham’s Led Zeppelin drums.”

In the end, Hagar and company wound up with something of a concept record about these past two utterly unique years and their lives during them. “In my lifetime, this is the first time we all went through something this major together,” Hagar says. “We all had to share in it and make it through to the other side. I think if you listen to this album from beginning to end, it will inspire you to learn how to live in these crazy times. It’s a manual.”