Oli Brown – Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (Ruf Records).
This is Oli’s follow up to his critically acclaimed debut, Open Road, and legendary producer Mike Vernon has brought the best out of him again. Evil Soul is a hi-octane opener which is driven by the drums of Jamie Little. Brown’s voice has improved since my review of Open Road and two years of almost constant touring has helped that so much. His guitar work is still stunning on this snappy introduction. Makes Me Wonder is a fluid blues which is slightly jazzy in some of the passages. The piercing guitar is the focal point. The metronomic Keeping My Options Open is a grinding blues based rocker whereas Speechless turns to a softer rock with a sophisticated feel. Brown’s guitar needs no encouragement to come to the fore and he confirms his status as one of the UK’s premiere guitarists. His treatment of the classic Fever, by playing it in a 60s R&B style is a success. It’s always hard to do something unusual with such a well known song but he does add a different feel to it overall.
Not A Word I Say is the first slow song on the album. It is moody and smouldering with the guitar as the star again. It builds well from the middle onwards. I Can Make Your Day is another grinding blues but a bit on the heavier side this time. Oli lets it rip here on the type of song that Joe Bonamassa excels at. Real Good Time has punchy guitar with a soulful feel. The funky Take A Look Back has a slicing guitar and the funk continues with No Diggity. Oli switches effortlessly between styles but the one constant is his guitar. Love’s Gone Cold has to be a blues with a title like that. This is slow and dark before it explodes into life when Oli lets that guitar go. Unfortunately, the album has to finish sometime and On Top Of The World is a wonderful sing-along song to wrap things up with. Played with panache, it is a testament to Oli’s all round growth.
Oli Brown will help form the future of British blues.
http://www.olibrownband.co.uk/
http://www.rufrecords.de/
David Blue.
This is Oli’s follow up to his critically acclaimed debut, Open Road, and legendary producer Mike Vernon has brought the best out of him again. Evil Soul is a hi-octane opener which is driven by the drums of Jamie Little. Brown’s voice has improved since my review of Open Road and two years of almost constant touring has helped that so much. His guitar work is still stunning on this snappy introduction. Makes Me Wonder is a fluid blues which is slightly jazzy in some of the passages. The piercing guitar is the focal point. The metronomic Keeping My Options Open is a grinding blues based rocker whereas Speechless turns to a softer rock with a sophisticated feel. Brown’s guitar needs no encouragement to come to the fore and he confirms his status as one of the UK’s premiere guitarists. His treatment of the classic Fever, by playing it in a 60s R&B style is a success. It’s always hard to do something unusual with such a well known song but he does add a different feel to it overall.
Not A Word I Say is the first slow song on the album. It is moody and smouldering with the guitar as the star again. It builds well from the middle onwards. I Can Make Your Day is another grinding blues but a bit on the heavier side this time. Oli lets it rip here on the type of song that Joe Bonamassa excels at. Real Good Time has punchy guitar with a soulful feel. The funky Take A Look Back has a slicing guitar and the funk continues with No Diggity. Oli switches effortlessly between styles but the one constant is his guitar. Love’s Gone Cold has to be a blues with a title like that. This is slow and dark before it explodes into life when Oli lets that guitar go. Unfortunately, the album has to finish sometime and On Top Of The World is a wonderful sing-along song to wrap things up with. Played with panache, it is a testament to Oli’s all round growth.
Oli Brown will help form the future of British blues.
http://www.olibrownband.co.uk/
http://www.rufrecords.de/
David Blue.
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