Chickenfoot – Get Your Buzz On
Recently, supergroups
have been springing
up like it’s the late
’70s again. Them
Crooked Vultures
(Dave Grohl, Josh
Homme, and John
Paul Jones) and Black
Country Communion
(Glenn Hughes, Jason
Bonham, Derek
Sherinian, and Joe Bonamassa) have been
garnering headlines lately, but Chickenfoot
was one of the biggest to spring up in the last
couple of years.
Formed unofficially in February 2008 when
former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and
Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer
Chad Smith, and guitarist Joe Satriani met
at a Hagar concert in Las Vegas. In the words of
Anthony, "It was just too much fun to pass up."
That attitude drove both their self-titled debut
album and this live DVD. Chickenfoot is about
having fun and putting on a great show. Even
though the members have a whopping 46 platinum
albums between them, they manage to put
their successes behind them and put on a good
show by simply rocking. It’s not pretentious
art rock, and there’s nothing too sophisticated
about the music. It feels and sounds like four
friends just jamming in their garage—even when
they’re playing in front of a giant crowd.
The main drawback to this DVD is that
Chickenfoot has only one album, so there’s
not a lot here that isn’t on the CD. The only
exceptions are the band’s show-closing covers
of Montrose’s "Bad Motor Scooter" and
the Who’s "My Generation" (Hagar plays
slide on the former). If you’re looking for a
great rock concert, check this one out, but
if you’re looking for new music you might
be better off waiting for their next album.
Chickenfoot doesn’t cover a lot of new
ground on this DVD, but they do show that
the road forward is already paved—and it
looks like a great trip. —BB
List $17.98
dc3global.com
Judas Priest – British Steel:
30th
Anniversary
Edition
If you’re a metal
fan, you probably
can’t count how
many times you’ve
sat through arguments
over whether
Megadeth is better than Metallica, who was
the best shredder of the ’80s, or what is the
greatest heavy metal album of all time. For
a lot of people, that album is Judas Priest’s
1980 monsterwork,
British Steel. The incredibly
influential album still rings in the skulls
of metalheads everywhere, and to commemorate
the 30th anniversary of its release the
band has rereleased the record with a bonus
DVD containing a very special treat for fans:
video of the band performing the entire
British Steel record—from start to finish—for
the first time ever.
The recording is of the August 17, 2009,
show in Hollywood, Florida—the concert that
kicked off Priest’s 30th-anniversary tour. It’s
pretty incredible watching a band in which
most members are nearing 60 but they still
rock harder than most bands today. And
they played the album perfectly, with fluid
ease. Vocalist Rob Halford proves he is still
one of the greatest singers in rock ’n’ roll by
consistently hitting every falsetto note with
precision and hair-raising emotion. The sound
and video quality is extremely clear, without
any visual artifacts from transfer or conversion
processes, too.
After watching this DVD over and over, I can
only hope that I can be this cool when I finally
reach that age. What’s funny is that, even
with a track list that’s 30 years old—Judas
Priest can still bring out your 16-year-old metalhead.
An absolute must for the hardcore
Judas Priest fan. —JW
List $15.98
judaspriest.com
Guitar Player Wanted,
Vocals a Plus
Karan Andrea is a guitarist,
songwriter, and singer
who has distilled several
years of vocal training into
a two-disc set (DVD and
CD) that covers things
like vocal anatomy, breath
control, vocal exercise, and
warm-ups for use in singing
a multitude of musical styles. She states right at
the beginning that she’s teaching only technique,
exercise, and control—not style—so that you can
apply your own style to your vocal instrument.
Andrea cleverly takes what we already know as
guitar players—melody, chord structure, harmonization,
pitch, time, and tone—and helps
us apply that knowledge to the instrument that
we haven’t spent years mastering. The DVD
starts out a little slow, but soon digs into the
heart of the matter. Using detailed drawings of
the entire vocal system, she offers easy visualizations
that help you understand the system
you’re learning to control. Breaking it down to
two simple concepts—the vocal cord "zipper"
and the "low or relaxed larynx"—Andrea offers
a set of exercises designed to help people who
think they can’t sing become real singers.
I think we can all agree that vocal exercises
are incredibly silly things that make you feel
ridiculous, embarrassed, strange, goofy, and all
kinds of uncomfortable. But once you get past
the embarrassment and get to the incredible
improvements that can come about with training
and exercise, you’ll gladly look a little silly.
The initial exercises are pretty elementary, but
even experienced singers who have no actual
training will find insight and improvement here.
The CD with has the same 25 exercises as
the DVD, so you can use it in your car or in
your home. Fantastically helpful for anyone
wanting to improve their vocals at any point
during the day. —GDP
List $39.95
soulhousesound.com