For those unfamiliar with this guy, Joe Bonamassa is a superb blues / rock guitarist, who is just in his 30s, but has been playing live for over 20 years, and supported BB King when he was 12 years old! He recently released a DVD of his concert at the Royal Albert Hall, which he states, was the highlight of his career so far, and is well worth seeking out.
Black Rock is a loud, old school, blues rock workout, and has a slightly 'lighter', more fun feel that the previous Ballad of John Henry album. There are several covers on the album, one of the best of these being Bonamassa's version of Leonard Cohen's Bird On A Wire, featuring a Greek clarino! He also does Jeff Beck's Spanish Boots, an Otis Rush song, Three Times a Fool, and there's a wonderful reunion with BB King himself on the Willie Nelson classic, Night Life. The album starts off with a couple of heavier blues tunes, Steal Your Heart Away, and I Know A Place, (the latter of which is probably the weakest track on the album for me), and finishes with a brilliant acoustic version of Blind Boy Fuller's Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind. In between the covers are five original compositions from Bonamassa, which fit in perfectly with the blues feel of the album, and there is some superb guitar on tracks such as Wandering Earth, and (another cover), Look Over Yonder Wall.
If I had to rate this album, I would give it 8/10, a couple of points being dropped for the weakish track mentioned above, and for the Greek influences in Bird On A Wire, which I find slightly irritating, as, for me, they spoil what would probably have been my favourite track on the album, but if you like blues rock, this album is a must.
Topic: Album Review: Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock (Read 3233 times)