Album Review: Chickenfoot
by Matt PattersonJoe Satriani lives.
On the self-titled debut album Chickenfoot, Satch sounds better and looser than he has in years – it’s easily his best work since 1993’s Time Machine. With his bald pate, shades encased face, and the sleek and shiny Ibanez hovering effortless in his hands, Satriani has morphed into the spitting image of the Marvel Comics character who graced the cover of 1987’s Surfing with the Alien. Unlike the Silver Surfer, however (always a rather glum chap in the comics) Satriani seems to be having a blast.
–
And why not? He’s in a great band who’ve just made a great record, a rollicking stomp of riff and chorus. To the surprise of many, instrumental virtuoso Satriani flourishes as co-writer and supporting player, keeping his trademark pyrotechnics on slow burn, never overpowering vocalist Sammy Hagar during the verses, and all while adding perfect surface sheen to the tight grooves laid down by bassist Michael Anthony (formerly of Van Halen) and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). When it’s time for him to solo, however, Satch lets the fire loose in some surprising ways – check out the Faith No More like mid-section of the otherwise classic stadium fare “Oh Yeah.”
And Satriani isn’t the only one who turns in a great performance. Sammy Hagar hasn’t sounded this good, this free, since he grabbed the lapels of that state trooper and politely declined to go 55. Michael Anthony’s bass and backing vocals remind us what a crucial element he was to the Van Halen sound, while Chad Smith lays down a slippery but never sloppy beat down on the skins. Producer Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones) lets the songs breathe while simultaneously giving them a smooth polish – a delicate balancing act that few producers know how to manage effectively.
Among the best tracks: “Sexy Little Thing” is a giddy joy that will repeat on your iPod for days. “Down the Drain” is slow and heavy, perfect for driving at night through a rainstorm; “My Kinda Girl” picks up the pace with a sing-along chorus tailor made for a sunny day’s drive (top down, of course). “Future in the Past” the closing track, starts slow and lilting, then suddenly takes a jarringly funky turn before morphing again into a vaguely Eastern sounding, tom tom driven jam, the depths from which bursts a blistering Satriani solo. Trust me – it works.
Chickenfoot has no right to sound this good. The line up on paper smacks of aging rockers desperate to recapture some glory by forming a painfully self-conscious “super group.” And then there’s the name, possibly the most cringe inducing in the history of rock.
But, aging or not, as long as they rock like this, these guys can call themselves Chickenshit for all I care.
Matt Patterson is a candidate for dictator and the 2005 national scrap booking champion. His email is mpatterson.column@gmail.com.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
26 Comments
I was glad to see the album so "groove" based, finding a rhythm and letting go. This record was much more different than anything Satch had done before. I give Chad Smith a lot of credit for that.
Maybe the reason the album sounds so free – the supporting players actually wanted to be there, not many veteran rock bands who can make that claim anymore.
Satriani needed a new direction after all these years- namely a vocalist. There are only so many arpeggios you can do before you achieve same old same old… enter Sammy ''Hagar the Horrible'. He has been bedeviling lead guitarists for decades, most recently with Eddie Van Halen but his first, and best pairing was with Ronnie Montrose. Montrose and WB's Ted Templeman sought to capture the Jeff Beck/Rod Stweart pairing with a more hard rock feel (Templeman went on to do the same thing with Van Halen's first album) and it had the same mixed results…
Grabbing the deposed Mike Anthony is yet another of Sammy's tweaks to Eddie V… at worst this should be a diversion and at best? who knows?
We'll give it a listen…
Best rock CD since Alter Bridge's "Blackbird" in late '07. Thanks for the great review. Although, after reading about a dozen of them, they're piling up for Chickenfoot. When the fans AND the critics love it, it must be good.
Trust me, folks, it's THAT good.
By the way, here's the new video for the first release, "Oh Yeah":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKkxxLEBwBo
Just caught the album cover…. Sortof like apeace symbol in a square.
Reminds me of the old gag of calling the peace symbol proper a "chickenfoot".
I like it! Everything VH has tried so hard to be since the mid-90s and has failed miserably at. Sammy and Mike get it right!!
I love rock n roll!!!!!!
Sammy Hagar ruins everything he touches. Is he gonna torture audiences with his induglent crap like "Trees" or tired junk like "I Can't Drive 55"?Or is he going to spend every show plugging his liquor and his resort?
Nothing but good tidings to Michael Anthony, a class act who was done wrong by Van Halen.
btw… dcase mentioned Ted Templeman. Anybody remember a group called 'COMBONATION'? Ted Templeman produced them in the early '80's. Local L.A. group. I played softball with the lead singer, Randy Foote. Hell of a 3rd base. Anyway… Anybody know what's happened to him? Heard he moved to Oregon and became a teacher? I know Mark Hart toured with Badfinger for a while, then developed a solo career. And lead guitarist Steve Doodas made a classical guitar CD…and tours with Ringo Star, and worked on Scott Getlin's album. And Combo drummer Billy was playing with Vine Gill on Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Festival DVD… Anybody got any more news on the old Combonation crew? (sorry, it's probably obscurity city, like 'Where are they now?', …but I was a devoted Combonation fan back then and was just wonderin'…)
Ahem, Hagar is part of a team that has released a top selling CD (was #1 on Amazon & Itunes over the weekend, we'll have to wait for the soundscan results for official sales overall) that has been getting rave reviews from all around. The last official release of anything with the name "Van Halen" involved was Eddie's contributions to a soft-core porn soundtrack (no, not a joke. Way to be a role model for Wolfie, Ed).
Don't get me wrong, I love VH….but, after a while, one has to witness the writing on the wall and acknowledge that the only people who were ever interested in giving the fans what they wanted were named Hagar, Cherone, and Anthony. Which, coincidentally, were the previous three releases of Van Halen not affiliated with porn. Well, Extreme gave us a CD last year & Hagar & Anthony gave us this instant classic.
But, hey, you can buy some overpriced Eddie shoes at the next VH concert and hear some 25 year old songs at the same time for only a few hundred bucks.
they were under our radar- sounds like we might have missed something. Ted Templeman, however, has a might legacy- Montrose, Van Halen, The Doobie Brothers- and all of it by far their best work.
Seems he might have had something to do with it…
yeah, Sammy is a mixed bag to be sure… we really liked his early work with Montrose, not so much his later stuff. He's a real card, too- very enjoyable to pal around with… we like his (slightly overpriced) tequila as well…
I can't drive 55 – take 337.
I've heard some of their stuff, went looking for it in part from Sammy appearing on Red Eye not all that long ago. It's not bad, not bad at all. It reminds me a bit of early Van Halen jammed together with Bad Company and a dash of Alice in Chains…but in a good way.
[...] Gotta love that line from the blog. Here’s the whole review [...]
15 minutes after buying this I felt that I wasted my money. I did not even put this on my ipod. Total crap.
Really loving the groove of this record, no doubt Satriani's best playing in awhile (I'm one of the few who liked his blues album in the 90s). Wonder if Johns was the reason VH's F.U.C.K. had similar sound. Fortunately, though, I don't listen to Sammy Hagar for enlightening lyrics 'cause these are some of his worst ever (what was with that lame outro on the opening track?). Eh, who's complaining? Turn in up and roll down the window…
I like all the musicians in Chickenfoot, gonna give it a try. Hagar can be annoying, but there’s no denying the guy can sing and his work with Montrose, “Mean Motor Scooter Ride, Rock the Nation,” killer, What happened to Ronnie Montrose? Joe Satriani a virtuoso player indeed, but arpeggios endlessly gets boring. Michael Anthony always a good addition to any band, and working with Chad Smith a great rhythm section, indeed.
Someone wake me when Michael Anthony learns to play the bass. It's really sad when you can be replaced by a 16 year-old kid on a Van Halen "reunion type" tour, and that kid puts everything you've ever recorded with the band to shame. Granted, that kid has the last name Van Halen, but not being asked to play, and David Lee Roth was, even after the hell Roth put that band through? That's just sad. And it should also tell you something about Anthony's talent (or lack of).
After listening to most of the songs, I don't hear a whole lot I haven't heard before. Sammy screaming, nothing wrong with that since it's what he does. Joe running the frets perfectly: Again, nothing wrong with that. Chad banging out decent work: He is a talent. And finally you have Michael: Still doing the two-finger-Running-with-the-Devil chords. Prediction: Super band status that falls apart in two years. Long story short: Nothing special to see or hear. Next?
I picked it up Sunday and haven't stopped listening yet (OK..well I only listen when I'm driving). Its a great summertime album. Sammy hasn't rocked this hard in years. Get Your Buzz On is a perfect defining track: A hard rockin' jam funked up just a little bit, while singing about the joys of your favorite adult libation. It looks like Michael bet on the right horse by hanging with Sammy. I hope they tour, but I suspect any dates will be limited. Unless the kick the big tour after October.
Correction- that's Soap on a Rope, not get your buzz on
Since this is a rare music post, I can't help but plug a band that deserves more attention.
Mörglbl!
It is worth a listen whether or not you like Chickenfoot.
(sorry for the blatant plug)
The best CD I've purchased this year, no question. I had high hopes for this grouping, but some worries – would Chad's Ian Paice-meets-John Stubblefield bashing work with Anthony's fairly straightforward basswork? Would Joe Satriani use the entire album for a demonstration of 32nd-note arpeggios? And could Sammy still bring it like he did in the Montrose days? The answers to these questions were – yes, no, and oh yeah, baby. These guys meshed together to a degree I never would have expected. The CD has been in constant rotation in my car, home and Ipod for the past week ,and will probably remain that way for some time. Great work, guys, and here's hoping we see more from the 'Foot in the future.
An admitted guess, but I think a decent one in that greedy-a$$ control freak Eddie wanted Michael out of the band so he, Al and Dave could collect more of the royalties. Not that they didn't give MA a decent buy-out, but still. Also sure continuing to hang out with Sammy didn't help. In the end, though, the only guys who showed up when Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Sammy and Mikey. Yeah, nice timing with going into rehab, Ed. Guitar god he always will be, but Top Jimmy no longer cooks.
A friend of mine got me this cd since I have have all of Joe's cd's, have been to numerous shows including G3 multiple times. I've listened to the first 6 Chickenfoot songs so far, and am not overly impressed with what I've heard. Generic 'stadium rock' that's been done many times before. Will the next 5 songs change my mind about regifting this cd? Time will tell! ps Crystal Planet (1998) is, imho, superior to Time Machine.
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Album Review: Chickenfoot [...]
[...] Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Album Review: ChickenfootJun 5, 2009 … Of the 11 tracks on " Chickenfoot," 10 are credited to the writing duo of Hagar and Satriani, and there apparently is something to be said for … [...]
You must be logged in to post a comment.