DVDfever.co.uk – Chickenfoot: Chickenfoot CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
earMUSIC
- Released: June 2009
- Rating: 6/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Chickenfoot. New pandemic? Not likely monster rock!
Big names and big sound seems to be the agenda for Chickenfoot. You only have to see the line-up to see why.
They formed after jamming at Sammy Hagars club Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico.Bringing together their individual talents, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, ex -Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar and guitarist Michael Anthony along with guitar maestro Joe Satriani, they unleash their huge sound on their hotly anticipated debut.Unlike mini-supergroup The Raconteurs whove taken classic rock well into the 21st century, Chickenfoot seem to have gone backwards to a time when Hagar fronted Montrose, a run of the mill rock outfit, and later, Van Halen.
Smith, regarded as the best heavy-funk drummer in the world gets a chance to really rock- out for the first time without Flea at his side.Satriani is regarded as one of the genres best ever axemen, releasing albums to critical acclaim. That leaves Hagar and Anthony whove covered this territory before with Van Halen. So, whats it actually like.Well, everything youd expect is here ear-busting riffs and stratospheric solos, many of which are too gratuitous for my tastes. At 61, Hagar still roars like a lion but hes never been regarded as one of rocks best. As with Halen, he fits the bill.
What theyve mustered is a reinvention of the days when big hair and big rock ruled the world, and as accomplished as the individual components are, they havent dug out any great songs.
During the halcyon days of commercial rock (not progressive rock a la Led Zep, Yes, Pink Floyd et al), Hagar with VH notched up 12 single chart entries over 15 years in the UK. In this case hes unlikely to get anywhere near that tally as theres little real single potential other than Sexy Little Thing (echoes of AC/DC), one of the few songs that has any class or dynamics.They could also opt for the dirty groove of Future In The Past should they really fancy their chances, or Runnin Out or Turnin Left but this kind of rock had its day 15 to 20 years ago and there are times, many of them spread over the album, that sound very dated, in particular Satrianis endless high – end solos, as polished as they are.
There is one track that stands out head and shoulders above the rest power ballad Learning To Fall. Its a steady and measured song that builds into a glorious crescendo with Satriani finally delivering a restrained solo that does justice to his talents. Inevitably, Satriani, his first time in a proper band, gets to showboat on the albums closer, Future In The Past, which has a Chili Peps funky groove with Joe building cool solo drop- ins which end up in his most blazing solo for Chickenfoot.
The verdict Air guitarists will lap it up, even if its predictable.
Weblinks:chickenfoot.us /ear-music.net
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Avenida Revolution
2. Soap On A Rope
3. Sexy Little Thing
4. Oh Yeah
5. Runnin Out
6. Get It Up
7. Down The Drain
8. My Kinda Girl
9. Learning To Fall
10. Turnin Left
11. Future In The PastView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.