CHICKENFOOT will release its new album on September 27, with a first single called “Bigfoot” tentatively set to arrive later this month. The set is still not officially titled, although the band has reportedly decided to call it “Chickenfoot IV” even though it’s only their second effort. Other song titles that have surfaced include “Last Temptation”, “Something’s Gone Wrong”, “Dubai Blues”, “Different Devil”, “No Change”, “Who’s Next” and “Astral Years”.

Speaking to the Artisan News (see video below), vocalist Sammy Hagar stated about the new CHICKENFOOT CD, “We took a giant step on this record. It still sounds like CHICKENFOOT, ’cause it’s the same guys, but I think the experience that we had together on tour and the success of the last record really opened us up to who and what we are. The first record we just threw it together and said, ‘Oh, so that’s what we are.’ Now we went into the studio with the consciousness that we kind of know what we are and what we stand for and we made a record that we’re calling ‘Chickenfoot IV’ — our second record we’re calling ‘Chickenfoot IV’. And it’s a joke in one sense, ’cause that’s the way CHICKENFOOT is, but in another sense, we’ve taken a giant step and I just think we just skipped over ‘II’ and ‘III’ and we went right to ‘IV’.”

CHICKENFOOT scored a gold album with its debut. The band also features bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Chad Smith.

Regarding why the chemistry between the CHICKENFOOT bandmembers works so well, Hagar said, “Chemistry is the most magic thing you can have in a band. You can have four of the greatest musicians in the world, and if they don’t have chemistry, the music ain’t gonna be great. And you’ve seen it in a lot of other bands out there, in supergroups that have tried to be together over the years. It doesn’t always work. CHICKENFOOT works. I don’t know why. I think we’re all grown up. Nobody cares, no one needs the money, no one’s trying to get famous, we’re not looking for fame and fortune. We just wanna play the kind of music that we love and we grew up on and continue that type of music and most people aren’t doing that.”

Anthony recently said that the album was a “lot heavier” than the band’s self-titled 2009 debut, adding, “I think we’ve really evolved as a band . . . we were a lot more comfortable jamming with each other, and I think we dug a lot deeper. There’s a lot more meat to these new songs.”

Smith will have two new records out within a month of each other, since the new RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS album, “I’m With You”, arrives on August 30. Smith will not tour with CHICKENFOOT this time due to his commitments with his main band.

WHITESNAKE mainman David Coverdale has revealed that the band’s current tour is being recorded for a possible live album release. He said, “We are recording many of the shows. We shall listen to them after we finish touring, of course, to see if we have ‘the goods’ for a live double CD.”

WHITESNAKE‘s new album, “Forevermore”, sold around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 49 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was recorded, produced and mixed by Los Bros Brutalos (Coverdale, guitarist Doug Aldrich and Michael McIntyre).

WHITESNAKE‘s “Live At Donington 1990” DVD/live double CD set was made available on June 3 in Europe and June 7 in North America via Frontiers Records. This incredible, never-before-seen, visual footage captures one of the most musically intense WHITESNAKE lineups performing in front of more than 70,000 fans. Mixed in glorious 5.1 and living, breathing stereo, it’s the next best thing to actually being there! WHITESNAKE 1990 featured guitar greats Steve Vai and Adrian Vandenberg, bassist Rudy Sarzo, drummer Tommy Aldridge and, of course, incomparable frontman David Coverdale. The “Live At Donington” 1990 DVD also includes a substantial gallery of never before seen stills of the band on the “Liquor & Poker World Tour 1990”, plus an intimate behind-the-scenes documentary of the making-of the “Slip Of The Tongue” album.

The “Live At Donington 1990” is available in 2CD set, DVD coverpack, combo 2CD + DVD in digipak and digital edition.

MEGADETH debuted a brand new song, “Public Enemy No. 1”, during the band’s headlining performance last night (Monday, July 4) at Docks in Hamburg, Germany.

In introducing the track, MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine said from the stage, “I wanted to do something for you tonight to show you how much we appreciate you instead of saying you’re a great audience. We’re gonna play a new song for you. This song is from our new record, [it’s] never been played anywhere, never been heard by anybody but us. This song is called ‘Public Enemy No. 1’.”

The band’s setlist for the Hamburg concert was as follows:

01. Skin O’ My Teeth
02. In My Darkest Hour
03. Hangar 18
04. Wake Up Dead
05. Poison Was the Cure
06. 1,320′
07. She-Wolf
08. Sweating Bullets
09. Trust
10. How the Story Ends
11. Angry Again
12. Tornado of Souls
13. Head Crusher
14. A Tout Le Monde
15. Public Enemy (new song)
16. Symphony Of Destruction

Encore:

17. Peace Sells
18. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due

MEGADETH has once again tapped artist John Lorenzi to create the artwork for the group’s forthcoming CD, tentatively due this fall via Roadrunner Records. The effort was recently recorded at Vic’s Garage with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others.

Lorenzi was responsible for the artwork on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007’s “United Abominations” and 2009’s “Endgame”, as well as the band’s 2007 box set, “Warchest”.

A summer 2010 interview with Lorenzi about his work on the “United Abominations” cover can be found at the RockPop Gallery.

Mustaine was asked in a recent interview with Pure Grain Audio how the new MEGADETH album is sonically different to its predecessor, 2009’s “Endgame”. “[It’s] different, a hundred percent different, unlike anything we’ve ever done before because the guitar sounds are different; it sounds really super-modern,” he said, before adding, “If I was going to say it sounds like a particular band, I would say it sounds like really old classic [BLACK] SABBATH and with a little bit of a modern edge of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE kind of thing. But then again, with the twists and turns of music that MEGADETH has been famous for over the years, you never know how it’ll turn out.”

Although British producer Andy Sneap — who helmed “Endgame” — was initially supposed to re-team with the band for the forthcoming album, has was forced to pull out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. He explained in a recent interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, “I’m doing another project that I also play guitar in called HELL and we’re doing some summer festivals this year so it kind of cut into the whole schedule that was planned with MEGADETH.”

When asked about what fans can expect from MEGADETH‘s next album, bassist David Ellefson told Martin Carlsson of Expressen TV, “Let’s put it this way: It’s funny that 20 years ago, we came off ‘Rust In Peace’ and we went in and made ‘Countdown To Extinction’. So, to me, that’s kind of what this album feels like. We did ‘Sudden Death’ [for a title in the ‘Guitar Hero’ franchise, ‘Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock’] and then this new song, ‘Never Dead’, which is a very violent riff. That was the first song we did, and we finished it top to bottom because we had to get it into this video game called ‘NeverDead’. So that’s a pretty good indication of what the new record is gonna be. But it’s a little wider than… That’s why I liken it to probably a little more to ‘Countdown To Extinction’, ’cause there’s a couple of songs that aren’t just full-on, in-your-face thrashing. However, most of it is. So you guys are gonna be excited. You’ll like it. You’ll dig it. You’ll have fun [listening to it].”

MEGADETH‘s platinum-certified 1986 masterpiece, “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?”, has been digitally remastered for the first time and expanded for a special 25th-anniversary release in multiple configurations. It will be released July 12 by Capitol/EMI. All of the versions, including a 2CD lift-top box, digital album and a deluxe 5Disc+3LP box set, contain a previously unreleased 1987 concert from the band’s first world tour and new liner notes written by Mustaine and METALLICA‘s Lars Ulrich.

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman