Post by Erik Rupp on Aug 30, 2009 19:49:44 GMT -5
Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot (2009)
Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith. Thank you and goodnight!!
What? You need more than that?
Well, actually, chances are you do because the debut album from the latest, "Supergroup," to hit the music scene isn't quite what most fans expected from these guys. Oh, it's close, but the devil is in the details, and this album definitely has a lot of details.
Chickenfoot, the album, has a very natural, earthy sound when it comes to the audio prodution of our program. In fact, it wouldn't be totally ludicrous to say that the sounds on the album have more in common with Led Zeppelin than they do with Van Halen, Hagar and Anthony's previous group that they played in together for 13 years or so.
Joe Satriani, who burst on the scene as a guitar virtuoso and next step from Eddie Van Halen, has progressed quite nicely over the years, adding those earthy tones to his repertoire (or bag of tricks). On the Chickenfoot album Satriani brings a number of different tones and textures to the table, from the big, distorted guitar sound of, "Avenida Revolucion," and "Soap on a Rope," to the cleaner, very earthy sounding tones he gets on, "Runnin' Out," to the middling, almost distant sounding tone he gets on, "Get it Up," Satriani doesn't just sit pat and bring the expected Big Rock sound on most of the songs as many might have expected.
While the album definitely rocks, there is a subtlety and nuance to many of the harder edged songs that really does evoke Led Zeppelin, even if more in attitude and approach than in actual style. Despite having several songs that are clearly influenced by what's beein going on in music over the last twenty years this is an album that still wouldn't be all that out of place in 1974 or so.
Opening with the almost tribal beat of, "Avenida Revolucion," it's clear right away that this won't be a, "By the numbers," Hard Rock album. Hagar's vocals still sound great despite the man being past 60 years old, but he's not too old to learn a few new tricks as the chorus is moodier and more ethereal than most of what Sammy's done before. It's a solid opening track, but considering what many expected it may not have been the best choice as the leadoff batter for Team Chickenfoot.
Following that up is, "Soap on a Rope," a song with a distinct Van Halen feel to it. It wouldn't have been all that out of place on OU812 or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and almost has more of a David Lee Roth era Van Halen feel to it than a Van Hagar feel, even if the style is clearly Van Hagar.
"Sexy Little Thing," evokes images of Pump era Aerosmith with what sounds like a mandolin during the verses mixed in with the guitars, while, "Oh Yeah," again goes back into that slow-ish bump and grind of Van Hagar, and does so with a reasonable amount of success before adding a bridge and solo section that is more 90's Rock than Van Hagar. By the numbers this is not. It could have been, but the songs have a diversity (even within the individual songs themselves) that takes the album out of the traditional Hard Rock category.
The aforementioned, "Runnin' Out," is up next, and it has a, "Finish What Ya Started," kind of groove and tone, leading into a harder edged bridge and solo section. Satriani's solo here is particularly nice - loaded with wah-wah and tasteful bluesy playing before letting loose with a bit of the shred.
"Get It Up," is a little more uptempo, with Hagar again getting moodier while holding each syllable for melodic impact in the verses before exploding into the chorus and letting loose with the trademarked Hagar approach.
Following that is, "Down the Drain," which opens with some clean, distant sounding playing from Satriani that clearly emulates some of Jimmy Page's work with Zeppelin. "Down the Drain," is another slow-ish groove that isn't far removed from some Van Hagar work (yet again).
"My Kinda Girl," is a middling track. Somewhere in between Van Hagar and Satriani's solo material, it's an upper mid tempo song with a strong sense of melody in the chorus. This would have been a good choice as a single back in 1989 or so. Bubbling under in this song (way under, in a very subtle way, but still there) are some Joshua Tree era U2 influences.
Satriani opens, "Learning to Fall," with some nice acoustic and electric guitars blended together nicely in the mix. This moody and fairly mellow song is another example of the group showing their Led Zeppelin influences without copying the band. Again, it's more approach and attitude than actual style as this song has more in common stylistically with 80's power ballads than Zeppelin's moodier songs, but the subtle Zep influnce is there.
Just in case anyone forgot that the pedigree of Hagar, Anthony, and Satriani was Hard Rock they come back strong with, "Turnin' Left," another song with an OU812 or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge kind of grind (not too far removed from, "Poundcake"). It's a good song that should be a single.
They close out the album with, "Future in the Past," another song that opens relatively quietly with some fairly clean guitars played by Satch, before giving way to a mid-tempo, mid-grooved, middling song that isn't a big rocker, but isn't a ballad or mellow track. Satriani has provided some nice guitar riffs for the song, as this is another nuanced song played with finesse. Basically, the album just kind of fades away with this one instead of going out with a bang or with a quieter coda to the proceedings.
Mention should be made of Chad Smith's drumming on the album. He is always in the pocket playing with a great sense of groove without overplaying anywhere. He is the musical glue that holds the whole album together.
Ultimately, while Chickenfoot's debut (although certainly possibly their only) album is a good album, it isn't great, and that's the shame of the thing because this could have been, andshould have been a great album. Co-Producer Andy Johns has to share the blame for that because he should have pushed the band a little harder to deliver some stronger, more memorable songs.
This may be a case of a band trying too hard, or maybe just being too ambitious, because a simpler, more direct approach for some of these songs might have made for a better album.
Bottom line? Good, but not good enough considering the talent involved.
3.5/5
Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith. Thank you and goodnight!!
What? You need more than that?
Well, actually, chances are you do because the debut album from the latest, "Supergroup," to hit the music scene isn't quite what most fans expected from these guys. Oh, it's close, but the devil is in the details, and this album definitely has a lot of details.
Chickenfoot, the album, has a very natural, earthy sound when it comes to the audio prodution of our program. In fact, it wouldn't be totally ludicrous to say that the sounds on the album have more in common with Led Zeppelin than they do with Van Halen, Hagar and Anthony's previous group that they played in together for 13 years or so.
Joe Satriani, who burst on the scene as a guitar virtuoso and next step from Eddie Van Halen, has progressed quite nicely over the years, adding those earthy tones to his repertoire (or bag of tricks). On the Chickenfoot album Satriani brings a number of different tones and textures to the table, from the big, distorted guitar sound of, "Avenida Revolucion," and "Soap on a Rope," to the cleaner, very earthy sounding tones he gets on, "Runnin' Out," to the middling, almost distant sounding tone he gets on, "Get it Up," Satriani doesn't just sit pat and bring the expected Big Rock sound on most of the songs as many might have expected.
While the album definitely rocks, there is a subtlety and nuance to many of the harder edged songs that really does evoke Led Zeppelin, even if more in attitude and approach than in actual style. Despite having several songs that are clearly influenced by what's beein going on in music over the last twenty years this is an album that still wouldn't be all that out of place in 1974 or so.
Opening with the almost tribal beat of, "Avenida Revolucion," it's clear right away that this won't be a, "By the numbers," Hard Rock album. Hagar's vocals still sound great despite the man being past 60 years old, but he's not too old to learn a few new tricks as the chorus is moodier and more ethereal than most of what Sammy's done before. It's a solid opening track, but considering what many expected it may not have been the best choice as the leadoff batter for Team Chickenfoot.
Following that up is, "Soap on a Rope," a song with a distinct Van Halen feel to it. It wouldn't have been all that out of place on OU812 or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and almost has more of a David Lee Roth era Van Halen feel to it than a Van Hagar feel, even if the style is clearly Van Hagar.
"Sexy Little Thing," evokes images of Pump era Aerosmith with what sounds like a mandolin during the verses mixed in with the guitars, while, "Oh Yeah," again goes back into that slow-ish bump and grind of Van Hagar, and does so with a reasonable amount of success before adding a bridge and solo section that is more 90's Rock than Van Hagar. By the numbers this is not. It could have been, but the songs have a diversity (even within the individual songs themselves) that takes the album out of the traditional Hard Rock category.
The aforementioned, "Runnin' Out," is up next, and it has a, "Finish What Ya Started," kind of groove and tone, leading into a harder edged bridge and solo section. Satriani's solo here is particularly nice - loaded with wah-wah and tasteful bluesy playing before letting loose with a bit of the shred.
"Get It Up," is a little more uptempo, with Hagar again getting moodier while holding each syllable for melodic impact in the verses before exploding into the chorus and letting loose with the trademarked Hagar approach.
Following that is, "Down the Drain," which opens with some clean, distant sounding playing from Satriani that clearly emulates some of Jimmy Page's work with Zeppelin. "Down the Drain," is another slow-ish groove that isn't far removed from some Van Hagar work (yet again).
"My Kinda Girl," is a middling track. Somewhere in between Van Hagar and Satriani's solo material, it's an upper mid tempo song with a strong sense of melody in the chorus. This would have been a good choice as a single back in 1989 or so. Bubbling under in this song (way under, in a very subtle way, but still there) are some Joshua Tree era U2 influences.
Satriani opens, "Learning to Fall," with some nice acoustic and electric guitars blended together nicely in the mix. This moody and fairly mellow song is another example of the group showing their Led Zeppelin influences without copying the band. Again, it's more approach and attitude than actual style as this song has more in common stylistically with 80's power ballads than Zeppelin's moodier songs, but the subtle Zep influnce is there.
Just in case anyone forgot that the pedigree of Hagar, Anthony, and Satriani was Hard Rock they come back strong with, "Turnin' Left," another song with an OU812 or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge kind of grind (not too far removed from, "Poundcake"). It's a good song that should be a single.
They close out the album with, "Future in the Past," another song that opens relatively quietly with some fairly clean guitars played by Satch, before giving way to a mid-tempo, mid-grooved, middling song that isn't a big rocker, but isn't a ballad or mellow track. Satriani has provided some nice guitar riffs for the song, as this is another nuanced song played with finesse. Basically, the album just kind of fades away with this one instead of going out with a bang or with a quieter coda to the proceedings.
Mention should be made of Chad Smith's drumming on the album. He is always in the pocket playing with a great sense of groove without overplaying anywhere. He is the musical glue that holds the whole album together.
Ultimately, while Chickenfoot's debut (although certainly possibly their only) album is a good album, it isn't great, and that's the shame of the thing because this could have been, andshould have been a great album. Co-Producer Andy Johns has to share the blame for that because he should have pushed the band a little harder to deliver some stronger, more memorable songs.
This may be a case of a band trying too hard, or maybe just being too ambitious, because a simpler, more direct approach for some of these songs might have made for a better album.
Bottom line? Good, but not good enough considering the talent involved.
3.5/5
