Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Record Review - Joe Bonamassa

Published in the October issue of Rolling Stone (September 2014).

Joe Bonamassa
Different Shades Of Blue
J&R Adventures

Joe Bonamassa has long been known as a six-string slinger of the highest order, one of the new guard in blues music, always keen to build on the form, take it places it’s not been before.

On his eleventh studio cut however, he falls flat. With the exception of ‘I Gave Up Everything For You, ‘Cept The Blues’, which, almost ironically, is a cracking slab of actual ‘50s-style Chicago blues, the album is a formulaic flop, due in large part I suspect, to the Nashville song hucksters brought in to co-write.

As a result, the album is repetitious, a parade of relatively staid blues/rockers that belie the man’s previously proven ability to evolve within this most hallowed of genres. Even his guitar prowess can’t save this one.
2/5

Samuel J. Fell


Key Track: ‘I Gave Up Everything For You, ‘Cept The Blues’

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