Sammy Hagar and the Circle, “Crazy Times.”

It’s a different Sammy Hagar who leads his newest band, The Circle, than the guy who couldn’t drive 55 in the mid-1980s, or who gave Van Halen a more melodic pop bent several years later.

He’s certainly older – almost 75 – and his voice isn’t the marvel of nature it once was. But Crazy Times, the new album with the Circle, presents a vocalist who integrates with his bandmates more than he rises above them or consciously plays off of them. That’s a compliment; this album, a sort of continuation of (and an improvement on) the Circle’s 2019 album, Space Between, presents nothing closely resembling “There’s Only One Way to Rock” or “I’ll Fall in Love Again.”

If anything, several songs on Crazy Times are closer to “Bad Motor Scooter” by Montrose, on whose first two albums Hagar first gained fame, than to either his various solo projects or, especially, his work with Van Halen.

That means tough music, of varying tempos, that’s much less pop-friendly than his best-known work, and only slightly less accessible. Many listeners will find that to be a trade well worth making.

Hagar has worked with these players before – longtime Van Halen bassist and harmony vocalist Michael Anthony, lead guitarist Vic Johnson (a veteran of another Hagar band, the Waboritas) and Jason Bonham, John’s son who has made his own name as a powerhouse drummer.

It’s Bonham who kicks off this album driving the lumbering pace of “Slow Drain,” on which Hagar bemoans the state of things, “Watching the world go down.”  There’s melody there, but it’s the sheer muscle of the musicians’ playing – especially Bonham’s – that make this, and most of the 10 songs here, stand out.

Most of Crazy Times is mid-tempo stompers. While many of his older songs have been taken at a similar speed, these new ones are cut from a different cloth than the Red Rocker of yore. While he sings now about crazy times, he mostly isn’t talking about himself. This is an older, wiser Hagar, having mostly moved past whiskey and women.

The most wistful song here, “Father Time,” has Hagar ruminating on his life, his decisions, the ups and downs of a life he’s still a part of, despite all the hard knocks: “Hard right to the head/ Left hook to the body/ Ain’t nobody going down, but they sure are taking a beating … And the songs we sing won’t change it, no matter how loud we play it … I can see it. I just don’t know what to do about it.”

While the Circle’s Lockdown 2020 was mostly given over to covers, there’s only one non-original here, a take on Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ “Pump It Up” that substitutes Johnson’s guitar for the original’s Farfisa organ and otherwise toughens it up.

While putting down a solid bottom, Anthony also contributes his signature high background vocals on several songs here, notably “Feed Your Head” and “Father Time.” Aside from a short burst during “You Get What You Pay For” that in its “yeah yeah yeahs” harken back pointedly to “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love,” Anthony’s background singing here is more atmospheric, more its own instrument than simply timely harmonies.

The sound is great, not only thanks to the players but to the crystalline production of Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile). The overall effect isn’t necessarily radio-friendly, but rather a deeper listening experience, at least by the standards of hard rock.

Crazy Times shows Hagar’s maturation, finally achieved in his mid-70s, and that he’s improving with age.

Follow journalist Sam Richards at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.