Sammy Hagar said he welcomed grunge’s arrival in the early 1990s because it challenged the stagnant hair-rock scene, but strongly disliked much of the dance music popular at the time. He criticised what he saw as formulaic, prefabricated songwriting, arguing that it resembled disco and lacked genuine musical merit.

The former Van Halen singer cited Alice in Chains’ ‘Man in the Box’ as an example of the grittier rock direction he found exciting, while highlighting Van Halen’s *For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge* as a more straightforward rock record. Although he dismissed most dance music, the article notes that Hagar later incorporated dance-influenced elements into his solo work, suggesting he valued individual songs over genre labels.