Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Chickenfoot
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2011
Running time: 45:12
Rating: 4/5
After their 2009 debut and touring the US and Europe, the supergroup Chickenfoot had to figure out where to go next. The hard-hitting rock with a dash of blues carries on with the second record, titled Chickenfoot 3. With that number they wanted to dodge the problematic-second-album syndrome, where the record has to be solid if not downright good. As a supergroup they’re under even more scrutiny from critics, but the goofy name Chickenfoot shows that these four gentlemen are together first and foremost for the music. Love of making music is the foundation of their work, and the mutual respect and communication are more than exemplary. Chickenfoot are vocalist and guitarist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani, drummer Chad Smith and bassist Michael Anthony. We link those names to bands like Van Halen, Montrose, Deep Purple and Red Hot Chili Peppers. So these are heavy hitters of the music business who’ve proven themselves over decades of hard work.
Sammy Hagar is a guy who went through plenty of bitter, hard times as a teenager. He’s a rebel with a cause, who saw his dream fulfilled in music and has followed it since his youth. You could say he’s the well-deserved owner of a dazzling career. Today, at sixty-three, he’s still remarkably lucid and vocally powerful. People who achieve fame and fortune in life often preach to others. Despite the tens of millions of dollars he’s made from music and his businesses, Hagar is still the same guy he always was. Normal, if I can use that relative term.
The meticulous, completely music-devoted Joe Satriani takes care of the melodies, the mighty guitars and the stylistic flourishes in the form of solo spots. As on the debut, his virtuosity takes a back seat this time, since Chickenfoot are consciously and above all a band. Satriani and the rest of the members show off their technical polish elsewhere. Hagar’s partner in crime Michael Anthony is surely among the better rock bassists North America has produced. Unpretentious and punchy, with note density in exactly the right places, he’s also an indispensable backing “first tenor.” Drummer Chad Smith is a lucky dog with a permanent full-time job at Red Hot Chili Peppers; for the second Chickenfoot record he still managed to steal enough time to get the studio work done, but there won’t be time left for the tour. He’s been replaced by Kenny Aronoff, a studio and live veteran whose résumé lists employers like John Fogerty, Bob Seger, Elton John, Vasco Rossi, John Mellencamp and many more.
Sales today are driven by special marketing tricks; for the fans they’ve put together a 3D cover, while the debut was touch-sensitive. So we’ll see what the third album looks like, which will probably be titled 9 or maybe 21?
Chickenfoot III has a slightly darker sound than the debut, but the overall picture is convincing. The low end forms a compact base, which the melodic superstructure needs. I can say that Sammy Hagar sings like in the best days of Van Halen. Despite the years, it’s fair to ask whether he’s actually in the prime of his singing life right now. At first glance, the Chickenfoot project looks like one big party. But in some songs the lyrics are seriously heavy. They reflect the current state of modern America, though of course it’s similar elsewhere in the world. In Three And a Half Letters they describe the lives of people who’ve lost everything to the crisis, whose past work and past merits have dissolved into nothing, and the worst part is that they can’t help themselves. Someone from Chickenfoot could help; I hope that from time to time they put something toward charity.
Chickenfoot 3 is an album with a much more melodic bent than the debut. For some die-hard fans it may even be too pop. Besides the lighter melodies, though, we still hear old-school rock urges. They deliver manly hard rock in Last Temptation, Up Next and Big Foot , and pop leanings in Alright Alright and Different Devil. In the song Come Closer, Sammy Hagar described the experience of a mature man going through a marital crisis. After trying everything he could think of and everything he thought would work, he finally just went with the most natural move. He pulled the missus close and whispered in her ear…. Well, lyrics are one thing, reality is another.
The wordy Hagar, the goofball Smith, the down-to-earth Satriani and the mischievous Anthony make a mix that works. If the debut justified the supergroup label, the second record Chickenfoot III confirms it and shows growth. They never run out of musical ideas, and Chickenfoot 3 is very good; plenty of similarly high-status bands couldn’t manage anything close to such a capable follow-up. The main thing is that these four giants don’t shove their instruments into the foreground when and if there’s a chance to. The songs, put first, mean far more to them. Chickenfoot don’t flame out in the process; on the contrary, they even spur each other on in the search for a musical form that won over even the harshest skeptics. It’s precisely this carefree ease that is the album’s greatest strength.
Lineup
Sammy Hagar – vocals, guitar
Joe Satriani – lead guitar, keyboards
Michael Anthony – bass, vocals
Chad Smith – drums
Production
Mike Fraser and Chickenfoot
Track list
1. Last Temptation 4:02
2. Alright Alright 4:39
3. Different Devil 4:24
4. Up Next 4:33
5. Lighten Up 5:12
6. Come Closer 4:08
7. Three and a Half Letters 4:07
8. Big Foot 3:49
9. Dubai Blues 5:02
10. Something Going Wrong 5:16
11. No Change (extra track) 4:24
