Fessing up to a guilty pleasure

There's one album I cannot get enough of at the moment: Chickenfoot.

Gotta admit that this super group -- comprised of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith -- is a guilty pleasure that isn't helped by the band's choice of name. My main interest in the record is Joe Satriani, who is one of my three fave guitarists of all time. I also like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and occasionally I'll bust out my two-disc Van Halen "best of."

Chickenfoot is very much a big, dumb, rawk record. The kind you aren't supposed to make anymore. It's also fun and kicks ass.

While the album isn't perfect -- I could have done without the mawkish ballad -- it runs circles around all the Van Hagar albums. Oddly enough, many songs are reminiscent of David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

The record has more than its fair share of killer riffs and hooky choruses such as “Sexy Little Thing,” “Oh Yeah,” and “Runnin’ Out.” Yep, songs about cars 'n' girls. (An attempt at political commentary on the opening track, "Avenida Revolution," doesn't say very much at all.)

“Turnin’ Left” is another highlight. (It’s not, as the title might suggest, a song about Arlen Specter's career.) It ends with Hagar's voice doing a call and response with Satriani's guitar, matching it's every squeal and shriek.



The album's centerpiece, "Get It Up," is a shoo-in for the 2009 Award for "Most Kick Ass Rock Song." It has a guitar riff that powerful enough to create antimatter and Chad Smith's drum fills are inhuman. This album, produced by Glyn Johns (Led Zep and others) captures the sheer power and swing of Smith's drumming better than any of the Red Hot Chili Pepper albums. The dude may look like Will Ferrell, but he's truly one of the greatest drummers in rock.

Joe Satriani is one of my fave guitarists and I own all his albums. Satch gets to show off his astonishing technique -- he has finger speed that a court stenographer would envy -- but his great talent has always been exploring the fourth dimension of guitar and all its textures. He has good feel, too. This is more of a fun rock record, so it's not as ambient or cerebral as Satriani's solo stuff. It's more straightforward. Nevertheless, Satriani's guitarwork on this record is blistering. (Listen to this, Eddie....)

I've never been a big fan of Sammy Hagar, but I'm astonished that his voice is able to effortlessly run on high octaves at age 61.

Michael Anthony's backing vocals were Van Halen's secret weapon and they're put to great use here. He's also a great partner in rhythm for Smith. The bottom end on this album outstrips that of any of the Van Halen albums. I've been blasting this album in the car ever since summer.


I also caught the band's August gig here in LA., which felt like being strapped to the front grill of Jeff Gordon's NASCAR. A pure rush with a thrill of danger. The sheer explosion of sound and energy was unbelievable. Smith was all mad-hatter glee with a constant grin. Phenomenal drum fills followed by him flipping his sticks into the air and catching them like a street-corner juggler. He must have tossed out 30 drumsticks into the audience over the course of the show and he not only looks like Will Ferrell but also cracks jokes to the audience between songs.

Satriani -- whom Hagar has nicknamed "Smoke" for his guitar prowess -- does stuff on the guitar that I've never seen anyone do on an axe. I've never seen someone who can stretch his fingers across as many frets as Satch did and he broke the landspeed record early and often. What's so great about Chickenfoot is that Satriani gets to breathe more than usual. At his solo gigs, his guitar is the voice as so he often overplays but here he could sit play and play a groove and then step forward for a molten solo.

For the encore, a gold disc was presented to Hagar for the Chickenfoot's sales. Chad Smith says Hagar is the only guy to have been a member of four bands with gold sales for an album. Soon after, Hagar sat at the edge of the stage and played some insane lap-steel guitar on "Bad Motor Scooter." Then British guitar phenom Davy Knowles, who was the first act, came on for a dazzling guitar duel with Satriani. It all ended with a cover version of The Who's "My Generation" (earlier, the band launched into "Immigrant Song" at the end of "Get It Up") and then Smith went all Keith Moon by trashing his kit, smashing it to pieces, hurling the bass drum across the stage, and jamming the cymbal stand into another drum.

Now that's rock 'n' roll.

Elbow triumphs in LA

There wasn't much Elbow room at the Wiltern Theater last night. Taking a night off from their regular slot as Coldplay's opening act, Elbow filled the cavernous Art Deco venue for their own headlining show. One of the greatest bands to emerge this decade, Elbow toiled away in rock's minor leagues until they unexpectedly became the UK's biggest band. Credit a carpe diem set at the televised Glastonbury festival followed by the prestigious Mercury Prize for best album of 2008. It's an unlikely feat for these five middle-aged Mancunians, a few of them portly in stature, who I once interviewed as "the best band you've never heard."

They're hardly well-known here in the US but, like their good friends Doves, who played a sterling show here in May, they're slowly getting better known stateside. The band's singer, Giy Garvey, has one of the most emotionally honest and beautiful voices in rock. As I noted during my review of the band's debut, "Asleep in the Back," Elbow's arrangements explore the space between notes and their understanding of light-and-shade dynamics add up to an intimate grandeur.
The evening started with Elbow's Guy Garvey coming on stage to introduce opener Jesca Hoop, who released my favorite album of 2007. Since Hoop's only accompaniment was acoustic guitar and a girl friend on backing vocals, Garvey appealed to the audience to give her due attention. Jesca was stunning. Just one old song -- "Seeds of Wonder" -- and then a set of avant-garde pop from her imminent record, "Hunting My Dress." One of those songs "Murder of Birds," which appears on Hoop's recent acoustic EP, features Garvey and he came came on stage to duet with her. (Hear it here.)
Good thing Jesca had a backing vocalist -- well, more of a co-vocalist, really. On record, her songs are all about vocal harmonies and counterpoints and the other girl did a great job of helping create a rich vocal tapestry. I went to see Jesca perform at a small venue -- the Hotel Cafe -- tonight, during which she did an expanded set (including some songs off her debut, "Kismet"). Now I have two of her new songs looping repeatedly in my head, which bodes well for her new record.This was my third time seeing Elbow since 2002 and their set list featured many of my favorite songs, including "The Bones of You," and "Loneliness of the Crane Driver," and "Mirrorball" (Garvey said that song is about the morning after falling in love). Alas, they didn't play "Fugitive Motel" and "Great Expectations," which the band played this morning during a performance on KCRW radio -- watch or listen to their performance here. (Incidentally, Garvey hosts a brilliant 2-hour show -- Guy Garvey's Finest Hour -- on BBC Radio 6 every Sunday night. It's a weekly listen for me, since my music tastes are pretty synchronous with his.) Guy Garvey was in great voice throughout the night and a warm and talkative presence on stage. During one song, he walked down the entire length of the stage shaking hands with each member of the front row. For "One Day Like This," he brought two random audience members on stage to sing along.

Elbow has two girl violinists, who also do backing vocals, on this tour and they certainly add lovely textures to the material. Biggest surprise was the reworked version of "Weather to Fly." They broke the song in two. For the first part, the whole hand huddled around the keyboard and did a stripped down version with just percussion and Guy's vocals. Gorgeous. Then they did the electric version.
"Grounds for Divorce" was a highlight of the evening with the crowd enthusiastically singing the "whoa-oh-oh-oh" parts. It sounded immense! There was also a stellar selection of a few older songs, including personal favorites such as "Station Approach" and "Newborn." The liquid lead guitar lines in "Newborn" were indescribably beautiful and the rock-out coda had me punching the air. They also played "The Stops," "Leaders of the Free World," "Switching Off" (which Guy said is about one's final thought before death, about a loved one), and "Mexican Standoff." Most songs were even better live and Pete Turner's heavy bass riffing worked a treat on tracks like "Leaders of the Free World." Final song of the night was a very soulful "Scattered Black and Whites."My wife loved the show as Elbow is a favorite band of hers. And, corny as it sounds, we made out during the "we kissed like we invented it" line in "Mirrorball."

Few things in life are free, except new songs

It's the new music-business model -- call it a half-Radiohead -- give away the first single from your new album as a taste of what to expect. For Coldplay and now Keane (see below), free MP3s have been chosen to make a statement, namely, "our new stuff is adventurous rather than the same 'ole, same 'ole."

Herewith, pointers to a few fresh freebies out there.

Marillion
The brand new single by Marillion, one of my fave bands, is so catchy that you'll need a lobotomy to dislodge it from your head. Visit this site to download "Whatever is Wrong With You" (download is at the bottom right-hand side of the page -- no information or email address needed). It's the lead-off single from October's double album, "Happiness is the Road."

Coldplay
Visit Coldplay.com for a free download of "Death Will Never Conquer," a jaunty acoustic ditty sung by drummer Will Champion, doing his best Chris Martin impression. The song has been a staple of the band's acoustic set on tour.

Richard Barbieri
Porcupine Tree keyboard player Richard Barbieri has a new solo album, "Stranger Inside," coming out Sept. 30. The musician, a former cohort of bassist Mick Karn and David Sylvian in the new wave art-rock band Japan, is making an excellent 8-minute track titled "Hypnotek" available to those who sign up to receive more information here. Richard's previous solo album, "Things Buried," is an electronica album that feels more organic than synthetic and it'll take you places you don't normally visit with a pair of headphones.

Keane
The British trio, renowned for their clean-lines of piano pop. take a left swerve on "Spiralling." Available for free until 11 a.m. on Monday August 11 at keanemusic.com, this first single off "Perfect Symmetry" is a shot across every music critic's bow.

Coldplaying Coldplay

Since Coldplay is close to finishing up its new album, produced by Brian Eno, I decided to reevaluate the band’s third album, “X&Y,” during a recent car trip. It’s still a bloated affair: overly long and Hugh Padgham-like production. The band seemed unsure of how to evolve the way that they'd managed to do during the lunar-stride leap from "Parachutes" to "Rush of Blood to the Head." Musically, "X&Y" finds Coldplay arcing in a creative cul de sac with no choice but to circle back on familiar-sounding constructions and motifs. The dreadful cover looks like a screen grab of a Tetris game that's all but over.

But once I’d brushed aside poor-to-middling songs such as “The Hardest Part” and “Swallowed by the Sea,” I was pleased to reacquaint myself with “Talk” and “Square One.” Moreover, I can confidently declare “Low” – with its euphoric climax swooping in, cavalry-like, at the last minute – to be the greatest achievement of the band’s young career. A concert highlight, too. But the real rediscovery for me was “Twisted Logic,” the final song (if you don't include the faux Cash country tune, "Til Kingdom Come," tacked on as a hidden track). Here, Johnny Buckland's guitar becomes jaggedly majestic, taking on all comers, going out like Tony Montana in a six-string firestorm.

The best moments of "X&Y" remind me why I fell for this band 7 years ago and I trust that Eno will do for them what he did for U2 following that group's similar "Rattle and Hum" debacle. Promisingly, the band states that this next album will be a disciplined 42 minutes and, they declare, "As you'd expect with Brian Eno, there's experimentation and exploration. But the music still has integrity. It's real and honest. There's no posturing or bombast."

P.S. Photo of Coldplay in Barcelona courtesy of Fibrcool over at Flickr's Creative Commons area.