Joe Bonamassa – From Nowhere In Particular (Provogue).
Joe Bonamassa has been hailed as “the new king of the blues” and from what I have seen and heard over the past couple of years, I cannot disagree with that statement. Live albums are not always the best quality but this is a more than ample follow up to his highly acclaimed 2007 album, Sloe Gin. He plunders this and 2006’s You & Me for most of the songs here and it is produced again by the excellent Kevin Shirley. The first CD opens with the electric Bridge To Better Days from You & Me and you couldn’t have a much better introduction to Joe Bonamassa. It’s rocking stuff and he is already playing the crowd. Free’s Walk In My Shadows is a classy walking blues and he has the crowd hanging on his every note. He is so precise on the slow blues of So Many Roads but there is no loss of impact with his power guitar in the live arena. At over 10 minutes, India/Mountain Time is a master class. India is the shorter instrumental intro/outro although it interweaves throughout. This may well become one of Joe’s signature tunes in the vein that Freebird became for Lynyrd Skynyrd for example. John Mayall’s Another Kind Of Love is a funky blues based rocker with a stunning solo although the song is short by Joe’s standards. The title track from his last album, Sloe Gin, reduces the pace a little. I said in my review of that album that this would be a great live track and I was not wrong. This will become another of his signature songs as both power and gentleness shine through. One Of These Days is a throbbing finish to the first CD. There are power chords all over the place as he takes it down in the middle before building it up to a storming slide guitar finish.
The second CD starts with Chris Whitley’s Ball Peen Hammer from his Slow Gin album. It has an acoustic start but it shows the power of the man and is a real crowd pleaser. He follows this up with If Heartaches Were Nickels and stays in the acoustic field. It’s a blues rock and this is what he is best at. There are no big solos here and it is all about the song this time. Woke Up Dreaming is a staple of his live performance and just listen to how fast one man can play an acoustic guitar. Django/Just Got Paid is an epic amalgamation of Joe’s original from You and Me that turns into ZZ Top’s Just Got Paid, a song that he only plays live. He can turn his voice from a whisper to a shout at will. Charley Patton’s High Water Everywhere highlights his acoustic dexterity and superb technique. The song builds slowly as the band pounds away in good style. He gets a big cheer for Asking Around For You so you can tell that this is a fans favourite. This smooth blues shows that he is not all about power but he still finds the space for his incisive guitar and yet another great solo. The set finishes with a medley of Jethro Tull & Yes in the form of A New Day Yesterday/Starship Trooper/Wurm. Seamless transitions are the order of the day and I cannot praise this high enough. This is a guy on the top of his game.
If you haven’t seen Joe Bonamassa live then this will keep you going until you do.
http://www.jbonamassa.com/
http://www.provoguerecords.com/
David Blue.
Joe Bonamassa has been hailed as “the new king of the blues” and from what I have seen and heard over the past couple of years, I cannot disagree with that statement. Live albums are not always the best quality but this is a more than ample follow up to his highly acclaimed 2007 album, Sloe Gin. He plunders this and 2006’s You & Me for most of the songs here and it is produced again by the excellent Kevin Shirley. The first CD opens with the electric Bridge To Better Days from You & Me and you couldn’t have a much better introduction to Joe Bonamassa. It’s rocking stuff and he is already playing the crowd. Free’s Walk In My Shadows is a classy walking blues and he has the crowd hanging on his every note. He is so precise on the slow blues of So Many Roads but there is no loss of impact with his power guitar in the live arena. At over 10 minutes, India/Mountain Time is a master class. India is the shorter instrumental intro/outro although it interweaves throughout. This may well become one of Joe’s signature tunes in the vein that Freebird became for Lynyrd Skynyrd for example. John Mayall’s Another Kind Of Love is a funky blues based rocker with a stunning solo although the song is short by Joe’s standards. The title track from his last album, Sloe Gin, reduces the pace a little. I said in my review of that album that this would be a great live track and I was not wrong. This will become another of his signature songs as both power and gentleness shine through. One Of These Days is a throbbing finish to the first CD. There are power chords all over the place as he takes it down in the middle before building it up to a storming slide guitar finish.
The second CD starts with Chris Whitley’s Ball Peen Hammer from his Slow Gin album. It has an acoustic start but it shows the power of the man and is a real crowd pleaser. He follows this up with If Heartaches Were Nickels and stays in the acoustic field. It’s a blues rock and this is what he is best at. There are no big solos here and it is all about the song this time. Woke Up Dreaming is a staple of his live performance and just listen to how fast one man can play an acoustic guitar. Django/Just Got Paid is an epic amalgamation of Joe’s original from You and Me that turns into ZZ Top’s Just Got Paid, a song that he only plays live. He can turn his voice from a whisper to a shout at will. Charley Patton’s High Water Everywhere highlights his acoustic dexterity and superb technique. The song builds slowly as the band pounds away in good style. He gets a big cheer for Asking Around For You so you can tell that this is a fans favourite. This smooth blues shows that he is not all about power but he still finds the space for his incisive guitar and yet another great solo. The set finishes with a medley of Jethro Tull & Yes in the form of A New Day Yesterday/Starship Trooper/Wurm. Seamless transitions are the order of the day and I cannot praise this high enough. This is a guy on the top of his game.
If you haven’t seen Joe Bonamassa live then this will keep you going until you do.
http://www.jbonamassa.com/
http://www.provoguerecords.com/
David Blue.
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