Being a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot fan, I just have to write about Chad Smith’s new project, Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats. Chad has teamed up with guitarist Jeff Kollman, Ed Roth on keyboards and bass player Kevin Chown, for a funk-rock outing. Their album Meet The Meatbats was released on September 15th and reached number 9 on the iTunes Jazz chart yesterday according to a tweet by Chad himself.

Meet The Meatbats is an instrumental album. The style is somewhere in the funk-jazz-fusion realm, but it doesn’t feel contrived like a lot of music in that genre has a tendency to do. It is fun music, with a nice funky groove to it, quite reminiscent of classic RHCP. In an interview on The Preston and Steve Show on Philadelphia’s WMMR radio station, Chad talked about how the record might not be for everyone, but how it’s a fun record and not just a bunch of guys trying to play a million notes a minute.

Chad also talked about how he is scheduled to start writing songs with Red Hot Chili Peppers on October 12th, and because of that there won’t be a proper tour with the Meatbats. He went on to say that the Chili’s writing process would most likely take around six months, and that hopefully they’d have an album out by this time next year. I can’t wait for new Chili Peppers material, and a tour, but it would be really nice if Chickenfoot managed to squeeze in one more European tour during the winter. Chickenfoot are by far the biggest surprise hit this year if you ask me. The pure joy displayed by all four members when they play live makes for a fantastic show. But for now, broaden your horizon and check out Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats!

As a side note I have to mention that Chad also talked about how he likes to throw drumsticks to the crowd, as long as they pay attention and don’t get hit in the head! Hmm, wonder what he could have possibly been referring to???

Written by Daniel | Posted in Music Musings