CHICKENFOOT – “Divine Termination” (2017 Edel coloured 7″ single)
For a band with only two albums, Chickenfoot sure do milk it. After a single debut album, they did a live DVD called Get Your Buzz On. Two albums in came a live album called Chickenfoot LV. (Get it? LV can mean both “live” and “55”, Sammy’s notable hit.) Then another package called Best + Live, mixing the “greatest hits” with a new song and an audio release of Get Your Buzz On — which, by the way, was mined for five songs already on the previous LV album!
It’s all too much. We like Chickenfoot here; really we do, but enough is enough. Instead of buying all that stuff, we decided to just go for a 7″ single for the one “new” song called “Divine Termination”. That seemed the most logical purchasing option, all things considered. It’s a nicely packaged 45, on clear pink coloured vinyl. The side A label depicts Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. Side B has Joe Satriani and Chad Smith. It feels nice and heavy in hand.
Unfortunately, it’s not all rose-coloured. These guys had five years to come up with one good new song. “Divine Termination” is not it. Although it does have a neat, vintage sounding Deep Purple riff, the Chickenfoot hooks and harmonies are missing. The chorus has no meat. “Divine Termination” is forgettable even though Joe Satriani plays as brilliantly as ever.
On the flipside is another release of “Highway Star”, the Deep Purple cover. It’s available on Best + Live, but its first issue was on Re-Machined, the Deep Purple tribute album. Too bad the B-side isn’t something exclusive, but it does blow away the A-side. Listen to Joe somehow make his guitar resemble Jon Lord’s Hammond Organ.
Maybe Chickenfoot were too creatively spent after years of solo and other projects to come up with a memorable new song. There’s talk of a third Chickenfoot album in the future. If so, it has to be better than “Divine Termination”.
2/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
I love that performance of Highway Star. Sammy sounds so good, even at that age
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I’m sure living on a beach front property totally rich and only doing what you want all the time has quite a few health benefits. That’s why Sammy is in better vocal shape than guys twenty years younger than him, even with all the Tequila.
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the funniest part, for me that is, is that Sammy is older than Robert Plant
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I never really liked Chickenfoot. They always seemed to be way less than the sum of their parts. I never liked Hagar solo either, with the exception of a song here or there and the awesome Standing Hampton album. I have his self-titled album with Eddie Van Halen on bass, that one was so disappointing. I always liked “When the Hammer Falls Down”, “Give to Live”, and “Eagles Fly” though.
IF YOU WANT LOOOVEE!!!
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Smart move on just the 7″ even if it sucks.
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Yeah man I dunno. I liked the First Foot album but that second one did nothing for me…
I am interested in what Sam has cooking with The Circle in a new studio releases so we will see…
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It feels like Mr. Lord’s organ would be a tricky one to emulate – good for them for doing it with a guitar!
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They arr absolutely smoking on the Get Your Buzz On live video and their version of Bad Motor Scooter is shit hot. I wouldn’t mind another studio-tour-live album cycle
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They arr absolutely smoking on the Get Your Buzz On live video and their version of Bad Motor Scooter is shit hot. I wouldn’t mind another studio-tour-live album cycle
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Fair points, and fair review. So much live stuff with so little studio stuff… do they think of themselves, perhaps, as a live band first, and a studio band by necessity?
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I thought about it, and yes I do think that. That’s how they started out..friends jamming together. An album came later…and with Sammy it’s always about the party.
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Well there, bring on the live albums!
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