Up Next

Album: Chickenfoot III (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • Guitarist Joe Satriani told MusicRadar.com: "The song starts innocently, tied to where I wanted to see the record headed - very riff-heavy and bluesy, with lots of open spaces where Sam (Hagar) could tell a story. Of course, I had no idea what the story might be - that would come later. Chad (Smith, drums) and Mike (Anthony, bass) really took the riff and propelled it."
  • Satriani has recorded a series of mainly instrumental albums under his own name, which showcase his guitarist skills. However he had to adjust to writing more accessible material for Chickenfoot. He told MusicRadar: "This is another song where the chorus is just barre chords, and I thought somebody might say to me, 'Hey Joe, isn't that a little simple?' You know - 'Where's that fancy stuff you do on your solo records?' But again, it's what worked."
  • Satriani told MusicRadar: "For the solo, though, I went the other way, from the Ramones and White Stripes to something totally crazy, which somehow fit the mood of the song. On the whole album, I used the prototype for my signature JVM410 Marshall amp. All we had to do was change channels and modes on the amp, and we got everything we wanted."
  • Lyrically the song tackles mortality, inspired by the death of one of the band's managers, Carter, during the recording of the album. Hagar admitted to Billboard magazine he had to work hard on the words for Chickenfoot III, such was the quality of the music. Said the singer: "We got to know each other on the first album (in 2009) and then touring for it. Joe and I got to know each other as writers. I struggle my ass off on the lyrics, 'cause the music is so good. I can't just start talking about girls and cars, y'know? So I wrote 'Up Next' five different times. I wrote 'Different Devil' five different times...and once everything was done I could look at it and go, 'F--k, this is good.'"

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