Chickenfoot – album review – Hagar – Satriani – 2009
After recently reading some of the leaked excerpts from Sammy Hagar’s unpublished book about his years with Van Halen, I’m personally glad to see Hagar (along with Michael Anthony) getting some good buzz with the new supergroup called Chickenfoot. According to the excerpts from the book, Alex and Eddie Van Halen are extremely petty and paranoid and pretty much gave Hagar and Anthony the shaft at the end of their stint with the legendary rock group. Of course the book is a one-sided account of what went on behind the scenes but whatever the truth may be, it’s just good to see Hagar and Anthony back in the spotlight. The band is made up of some stellar players including guitar-god Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Chad Smith on drums. Supergroups like these tend to all look good on paper so the real test is the MUSIC and fortunately for us the new record ROCKS. ChickenFoot isn’t about re-inventing the wheel. It’s obvious that the goal was to make an accessible guitar-based rock record in the vein of Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. And thankfully the group delivered the goods. Folks were probably expecting some sort of trainwreck with all the big egos involved here but the group really DOES sound like they gel together nicely. Smith is a fantastic drummer laying down some tasty grooves with Anthony holding down the low end as solidly as ever. Satriani manages to rein things in, going back to basics with crunchy riffs and melodic leads during the solo sections. And Hagar can still do those blood-curdling screams at the age of 61! amazing. The album contains many highlights including “Down the Drain”, “Sexy Little Thing”, “Soap on a Rope” and the power ballad “Learning to Fall”. The refreshing thing is hearing a band playing together live in the studio with minimal overdubs and NO click-track. It’s a bit jarring to hear the tempo naturally ebb and flow in this day & age of tempo mapping and quantizing in pro-tools. but for a rock record, there’s no better way to capture a band in action. Oh and I gotta give kudos to producer Andy Johns and engineer Mike Fraser. The recording sounds fantastic with crisp definition of each instrument and great punch down on the low end. Unfortunately, I have to take points off for some lousy lyrics but with music this good, I’ll overlook it for the most part. 
RetroGrade: B+
Chickenfoot
Released: June 2009
Label: Fontana
Produced by Andy Johns
Mixed by Mike Fraser
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TrackList:
1 Avenida Revolucion 5:56
2 Soap on a Rope 5:32
3 Sexy Little Thing 4:14
4 Oh Yeah 4:54
5 Runnin’ Out 3:52
6 Get It Up 4:41
7 Down the Drain 6:17
8 My Kinda Girl 4:34
9 Learning to Fall 5:13
10 Turnin’ Left 5:48
11 Future in the Past 6:38
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ChickenFoot:
Sammy Hagar – vocals
Joe Satriani – guitar
Michael Anthony – bass
Chad Smith – drums
Official Website: ChickenFoot.us
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Check out the official music video of Oh Yeah on youtube:
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and be sure to catch ChickenFoot live this summer:
2009 European Tour
Sat 06/20/09 AUSTRIA Nova Rock Festival
Tue 06/23/09 CORK, IRELAND: Live at the Marquee
Thu 06/25/09 LONDON Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Fri 06/26/09 HOLLAND: Heerhugowaard
Sun 06/28/09 BELGIUM Graspop Metal Meeting Festival
Mon 06/29/09 PARIS: Olympia
Wed 07/01/09 MADRID Palacio De Deportes Comunidad De Madrid
Fri 07/03/09 PISTOIA, ITALY: Blues Festival
Sat 07/04/09 MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND: Stravinski Hall
Sun 07/05/09 UDINE, ITALY: Lignano Sbbiadoro
Tue 07/07/09 HAMBURG: Grosse Freiheit
Wed 07/08/09 COPENHAGEN: Vega
Fri 07/10/09 KILAFORS, SWEDEN: Rockweekend Festival
Sun 07/12/09 WEERT, HOLLAND: Bospop Festival
for more info on the European leg of the tour please check the NoblePR website
2009 U.S. Tour
Sun 08/02/09 Halifax, NS Citadel Hill
Tue 08/04/09 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
Wed 08/05/09 W Homestead, PA Riverplex Amphitheatre At Sandcastle
Fri 08/07/09 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
Sat 08/08/09 Detroit, MI The Fillmore Detroit
Mon 08/10/09 Saint Paul, MN Myth
Tue 08/11/09 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
Thu 08/13/09 Comstock Park, MI Fifth-Third Ballpark
Sat 08/15/09 Cleveland, OH Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
Mon 08/17/09 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Thu 08/20/09 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Sat 08/22/09 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa / Music Box
Sun 08/23/09 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Mon 08/24/09 Boston, MA Bank Of America Pavilion
Wed 08/26/09 Portsmouth, VA Ntelos Wireless Pavilion
Thu 08/27/09 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amphitheatre At The Music Factory
Sat 08/29/09 North Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
Sun 08/30/09 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Sat 09/05/09 Stateline, NV Harveys Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena
Sat 09/12/09 Grand Junction, CO Rock Jam Festival Grounds
Mon 09/14/09 Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
Wed 09/16/09 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
Thu 09/17/09 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheater
Mon 09/21/09 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre At Grand Prairie
Wed 09/23/09 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
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