Chickenfoot III – If any of my peers are reading this they are probably cringing at this moment, but I liked most of their debut disc, this one is better and I think a bit better writing went into this.  I’ve read a few reviews about this disc and I agree with their comments, all is good if you can just bear Sammy, I’m not sure he’s the “Red Rocker” any more.  He’s still a screamer and the harmonies are still there from time to time, but the juice from this album is definitely coming from the rhythm and strings sections.

“Up Next” starts off with a rock groove that just, well, it rocks.  Follows the same groove until the solo, the Joe just comes unglued – it’s awesome.

Michael Anthony’s playing is subtle but very solid.  On this and the first discs he’s killin’ with Chad, and harmonizes guitars with Joe so well, all the while still staying locked with Chad – yeah, I know he’s had a lot of practice and played with some great players, but he’s definitely not letting anything slip.

The experience might be totally different in concert, but I think these guys will be a great studio band until they decide to stop wanted to make music, right now it doesn’t sound like that at all.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You – Picked this up last week based on some reviews of the bass work going on by Flea recently.  This disc did not disappoint in the least.  Too much action and at the usual speed of sound.

He leads the track Ethiopia off with “We’re rollin’ everybody time for some bass.”  He lays into this piece with his foot on the floor (you can stream the track off my home page if you like), then Chad falls in behind, then it just becomes awesome.

Not being a routine listener except for ‘Higher Ground’, ‘Can’t Stop’ the other chart toppers we hear on the radio ( I know there are dozens of others ) I had no affinity for their music.  Flea started showing up in Bass Player Magazine over the last year and the style he’s put together fuses a few bass players I do listen to, so his (unimitatable) style make sense, keeping up is the hard part, but fun to try!