The Red Rocker has been rockin' and rollin' since the early 70's. The man has not only carved out a successful solo career but fronted such bands as Montrose, The Circke , HSAS , Chickenfoot and of course, Van Halen.

This man can write stellar hooks and has the pipes to convincingly convey those lyrics. He has so many hit records and singles that he would fill a "box set" on his own and aincedibly worthy one, at that!

I believe, Hagar could have just sat back and rested on his past glories when he left Van Halen. He could have simply gone on tour, (side note, those shows would be awesome!) to rack in the cash and nobody could have said a thing. But thankfully, Hagar marches to his own drum and keeps on making even more great music.

Well, on October 24th, 2000, the Red Rocker did just that and released, Ten 13. In fact, I think he proved to the world that there was a lot more gas tank and that there's definitely life after Van Halen.

The name of the album was inspired by Hagar's birth date which is fitting because this Libra truly typifies his sign. From the opening notes of the first track to the last notes of the closing track, Ten 13 is easily one of Hagar's best albums of his career. The album is a hooked filled, stadium friendly classic rock record that proved that Eddie Van Halen wasn't the sole saving grace of Van Halen.

Ten 13 has numerous highlights; including the hard rocking numbers Shaka Doobie and Let Sally Drive. The Van Halenesque: The Message, the moody modern rocker, Serious JuJu and the heartfelt ballads, A Deeper Kind of Love and Little Bit More. In all honesty all the tracks are solid .

Ten 13 is not just one of Hagar's most energetic, cohesive and consistent records, it's one of the best rock records that was put out that year. Unfortunately though the label Hagar signed with didn't have the means to properly promote the record so Ten 13 went largely unnoticed.

If you love good old time rock n roll, then you owe it to yourself to give Ten 13 a listen. Highly recommend.