Album Review: Chickenfoot III by Chickenfoot

Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith have no problem finding a groove on Chickenfoot III, the confusingly titled second album by their Cabo Wabo hobby-turned-globe-trotting-alliance. They remember when hard rock meant funky stuff with misogynistic machismo on top - see brontosaurus burgers like "Alright, Alright." But the band plods more than pushes, and while the riffs stick, the songs generally don't. The unemployment report "Three and a Half Letters" and the gas-guzzling road-burner "Big Foot" get by, though: It's hard to hate big-boned butt rock from guys clearly making it because they still love the form.

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Maybe the only surprising thing about Chickenfoot's critically dismissed 2009 debut was that anyone should have been surprised at its eventual commercial success. After all, there was just no way that America's average Joe classic rock consumer was going to resist spending all of that disposable beer money on a super-sized union between Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith, no matter how meager its artistic rewards. Temptation embraced, the broth thickens with a second Chickenfoot LP -- cheekily named Chickenfoot III -- that offers much the same in terms of musical and intellectual stimuli (don't laugh) with its rather shameless though surely to-be-expected, exploitation of the vintage Van Hagar aesthetic.

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When the relatively-unknown Chickenfoot‘s lead single, “Oh Yeah”, hit terrestrial airwaves back in ’09, it was catchy and power-driven. With Sammy Hagar noticeably present, the initial vibe felt genuinely rock ‘n’ roll, though not without a little shtick. No shock, no awe, no “Coming soon to an arena near you!” commentary–strictly heavy music for whoever happened to be tuned in that afternoon.

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