Liner Note Authors: Ted Nugent; Scott Schinder.

Photographers: Melanie Nissen; Raul Vega; Moshe Brakha; Chris Walter; Annie Leibovitz; Matthew Welch ; Robert Buhl; Steve Jennings.

When it comes right down to it, Sammy Hagar doesn't have all that many hits -- he's hit the Billboard charts about 30 times as a solo artist since leaving Montrose in the late '70s, and about ten of those are ones that you'd want to hear again, particularly when you take into account that such classic anthems as "Three Lock Box," "I've Done Everything for You," and "Heavy Metal" didn't hit the charts, but covers of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and latter-day nonentities like "Serious Ju Ju" actually did. In other words, it seems like it'd be pretty easy to put together a definitive single-disc collection of his solo work, even if you threw in Montrose's "Bad Motor Scooter" for good measure because, let's face it, that was a Sammy cut anyway. Previous compilations like Unboxed or The Best of Sammy Hagar were constrained by label restrictions, since they only featured songs from his Geffen and EMI recordings, respectively, but Hip-O's 2004 effort The Essential Red Collection was supposed to solve this problem by cross-licensing between the two labels, and adding "Bad Motor Scooter," too. Alas, it falls short of being definitive, lacking such staples as "Cruisin' and Boozin'," "Baby's On Fire," "I Don't Need Love," and, worst of all, "Three Lock Box," whose absence is even more glaring considering that the immortal lyric "Suckers walk/Money talks" is highlighted in the liner notes. In their place is a handful of lesser-known, latter-day post-"Give to Live" hits, plus two unreleased cuts from 1974, which, as collector bait goes, aren't bad, but their presence eats up space that would have been better served by real hits. Nevertheless, this is the closest listeners have come to a definitive Sammy collection, and if you have this, along with either Unboxed or The Best of Sammy Hagar, you sure could compile a killer play list for your iPod. But some won't want to work that hard, and would have preferred it if The Essential Red Collection did all the legwork, not just because all of the hits would be in one place, but because it'd be a better comp for it. Final note: when you look at the cover, please remember that there's only one pickup on Sammy's guitar because there's only one way to rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Though he didn't become a true worldwide superstar until he joined Van Halen in 1985, Sammy Hagar was long respected by fans and peers alike for his uncompromising commitment to stripped-down, unadulterated hard rock. A bluesy wailer on par with Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers, the California native first garnered acclaim as the lead singer of Montrose, but also scored several genre-defining hits on his own. To the delight of his intensely loyal followers, the Red Rocker's sound changed little throughout his career, the majority of his recordings consisting of the same heavy drums, hard-charging guitar, and rock-solid bass with which he made his mark in the early '70s.

The most comprehensive single-disc compilation of Hagar's solo material, THE ESSENTIAL RED COLLECTION culls his biggest chart-toppers ("There's Only One Way to Rock" and the revved-up anthem "I Can't Drive 55") and notable album tracks ("Red," "Two Sides of Love"). The set also features one Montrose song ("Bad Motor Scooter"), unreleased demos (Thinking of You," "Call My Name"), and soundtrack contributions (including the title tracks to the films HEAVY METAL and FAST TIME AT RIDGEMONT HIGH).