Chickenfoot III

If you know or don't know... I'm a huge Sammy Hagar fan. This review will be bigger than usual. You're welcome.

"Last Temptation"
The opening track innediately reminds you of your first thought on the debut Chickenfoot record: Joe Satriani is made for more than just virtuosity. The man can write a dirty classic rock riff. And like Joe says, this could feel like a re-worked '50s blues song; but add in the Chad Smith power drums and the Van Halen chorus and it becomes completely updated. The lyrics have a great concept of having that marital relation temptation, and even ties it biblically. I could have stood to see Sammy rework the second and third verse/chorus to change up those words slightly. Keeping the tone, but being less repetitive.

"Alright Alright"
Very much a Rolling Stones revue here. A great one. Joe's riffs combine the best elements of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Start Me Up" And while the lyric is about the end of a relationship, Sammy doesn't let the funness of the music get away from him. The chorus is a perfect party harmony that was a little late to be a great summertime jam.

"Different Devil"
I'm going to assume that this is the poppiest tune on the record. And that's fine. This could easily be a late-80s rock tune with a video of black-and-white images of the tired band on the road, missing their ladies. It gains interest as the key and the tempo changes in the solo.

"Up Next"
Written for a long time confidant of Sammy, John Carter died of cancer during the recording of III. Sammy has written a tune about the ramdomness of death, and his own expectations about arriving on death's door. A heavy riff by Joe is followed by a psychedelic, whammy-barred out solo fill this tune out. It's got the high harmony chorus, but other than that, a great metal marching stomp.

"Lighten Up"
A Deep Purple like pipe organ intro kicks off this '70s-vibe number. And while that organ effect doesn't last, the vibe does. A straight ahead rokcer, that once again sees Sammy getting angry about romantic entanglements (his wife better be watching out). But within the straight-ahead rock, Joe does a LOT of signature noodling. Sammy called it the "Free Bird" ending, but it's so much faster.

"Come Closer"
A romantic blues tune, I hesitate to call it a "ballad" because Chad uses a train-shuffle rhythm. So it's mellow, but not necessarily slow. Sammy said it, and he's right; it's a '70s R&B tune. It's really left field for anything that any of these guys have ever done in the past. And to that they should get a lot of credit. It is true to that old vibe. And when you start out with that as a lyrical basis, the whole band could have messed it around until it became classic Chickenfoot again. But they let it exist as that R&B sound and it works magically.

"Three and a Half Letters"
An odd political statement of Sammy talking, reading letters he's received about people facing financial hardships. He reads the letters and then screams the chorus: "I need a job!" Easily the heaviest tune on the record, this could have been your neighborhood punk band, if I didn't tell you. Recorded live in the studio, you can hear Sammy's voice giving in toward the end. His definitely pushing it to eleven here.

"Big Foot"
This one is the closest to the first Chickenfoot album. Because it's the most upbeat and fun. A straight-up driving tune. Got my Big Foot on the gas and driving home to you. It's the most simple and I may have placed it somewhere else in the track listing, because next to "...Letters", it seems too simple. But that's a big part of classic rock- is the breezy driving "Radar Love" thang.



"Dubai Blues"
A great lyric about a rich man lamentin his lack of the proverbial "she". "Dubai Blues" is a great title for this. A laundry list of high-end possessions followed each time with, "...but I ain't got you."

"Something Going Wrong"
This is the only track on the album that makes me question its inclusion, much less how it became the closer. It starts with an acoustic riff that sounds somewhat like "Can't Find My Way Home" except that Joe is using a slide to give it a delta swamp feel. But the song doesn't progress much from there. And lyrically, its the vaguest of the vague. "My baby can't breathe the air" is the only indication that the point is supposed to be environmental. It's not bad, it just doesn't fit in this collection.

Nonetheless, a steller effort from the 'Foot. Even better than the first record. (5 of 5 stars)