Chickenfoot Saturday!
Supergroup Chickenfoot is Sammy Hagar teamed with fellow Van Halen exile Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and guitar god Joe Satriani, formed out of live jams at Hagar’s club, Cabo Wabo Cantina in Mexico.
No one should pop this or the first (that’s right, III is the second LP) Chickenfoot record on expecting anything completely different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Hey, if it isn’t broken . . . It’s classic Hagar-era VH redux, with Satriani riding the wave up and down depending on room for what he does best. No frills melodic rock hammers the first few cuts, then Hagar confronts mortality with hard-rock gusto on the riff-heavy “Up Next,” in tribute to John Carter, their late manager who died of cancer in the middle of recording. Satriani seems to let loose from his otherwise mathematically precise prowess more and more as the band progresses, the apex of that evident on “Lighten Up,” which harkens back to the classic, orgasmic grooves of Montrose, as does the 18-wheeler rock of “Big Foot.” The closer, “Something Gone Wrong,” is what the band name evokes and what I’d hoped for this project: a Southern-fried slice of what all four bring to the table. No matter the influence, Hagar and company (whoever that may be at the moment) bring the party to the, well, party. (Saturday@Metro.)
— Penelope Biver
