Review Summary: Another supergroup that should've stayed retired.
When this project was first announced it sounded so good. Everyone was waiting for something like this. Chickenfoot was the given name for this group that included Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen, Joe Satriani who is nothing less than a guitar god and Chad Smith from the Chili Peppers. After reading the names of the members, one can only think “how could this be bad?” It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just incredibly boring. Hagar’s vocals during his Van Halen stint were mediocre at best but could not beat David Lee Roth’s voice. Formed as a side project between the four guys, their self-titled album was released the same day they appeared on the last show of Conan O’Brien’s first week as host of The Tonight Show.
I honestly had huge expectations for this album. When I heard about it I thought it was going to be big thing for the music industry. After listening to it I realized I was wrong, oh so wrong. Simply put Chickenfoot is Van Halen with some flashy guitar work by Mr. Satriani. The album starts out with “Avendia Revolucion” which you can bill as nothing more than hard rock. It has an eclectic guitar riff to start the song but as soon as Hagar starts singing you will realize it’s nothing more than his annoying voice. “Soap On A Rope” sounds a lot like the prior song by bringing nothing new to the table. When the third track starts it sounds more like a classic rock song. Honestly I believe this song should be written and produced for an 80’s glam metal band. The only bearable part about this song is Anthony’s high pitched backing vocals.
All the songs on this record are generic all the way down to the titles. Reading through the list of songs really shows the lack of creativeness on the part of the band. Number four on the record is the first single to hit the charts, “Oh Yeah.” This is the song they played the night they performed on The Tonight Show. Honestly can’t you think of a better chorus than Oh Yeah? I mean I know all of these guys have been making music for quite a few years but you should be able to name your songs by using words that aren’t used 5000 times a day already. Most of the songs on this record sound like they should be sung by a country rock band.
“Get It Up” has the most entertaining chorus ever. If you have heard this song you probably know what I am referring to. I chuckle every time Hagar screams “Ariba Ariba.” They were going for a speed rock n’ roll sound when they set out to record this album but they failed. It’s like they just wrote 5 songs, switching the notes up once in a while then incorporated 11 songs worth the crappy lyrics into it. I read somewhere that Hagar supposedly said that Chickenfoot could “rival” Led Zeppelin. He later retracted his statement claiming he was intoxicated at the time. He then went on to compare his new side project to his former band, Van Halen. He said that “it’s ten times better than Van Halen, because it’s functional; we all like each other.”
The only thing this band can be compared to is the boringness and commonality of Nickelback, Hinder and Crossfade. Honestly I think that Chad Smith and Joe Satriani would be better off forming another band or starting their own side projects because this one isn’t going anywhere. The tracks on this album are dominated by the choruses that perfectly match up to the song titles most of the time. It’s just song after song of generic messiness. The whole album clocks in just under an hour, which is entirely too long. I won’t even bother mentioning the rest of the songs because there is nothing new I have to say about them. If you need commentary on the rest of the album just insert the titles above and re-read the descriptions for songs 1-3.
To be frankly honest people, this album is simply a snooze fest. The only reason to listen to this album is if you love Sammy Hagar’s voice. Otherwise the entire time listening to it you are just trying to listen to see if Satriani wrote any new riffs or if Chad Smith is still an awesome drummer. The entire album is just Hagar’s voice over Satriani’s guitar playing. Save yourself some money and just hit up their MySpace to listen to it or if you know someone who has a copy, rip it from them and then advise them to sell their copy.
