Blues rock guitar player and singer-songwriter Joe Bonamassa's released his 10th solo album, "Black Rock," Tuesday. Bonamassa and his band recorded the disc in Greece at Black Rock Studios, lending the album its name.
The 32-year-old got started playing music at the age of 4 and was sitting in with B.B. King and Danny Gatton.
Bonamassa flips through his Rolodex of influences and places his own highly-technical spin on their styles. Jimmy Page is obviously a huge influence on Bonamassa's playing, but the record manages to cop some of Led Zeppelin's heavy studio sound, most notably the opening track, "Steal Your Heart Away" and the song "Blue and Evil," which was available on his Web site for a few weeks before the album came out.
To tell you the truth, I've never been a big fan of his voice. When singing blues, he has this affected style that is more of an impression of a powerful blues voice, but he hits the notes. It's like singing in a falsetto and claiming to have range. All this circular talk is probably just me trying to not sound like other folks who claim his voice lacks "grit."
But the more I listen to this album, both the instrumentation I already liked and the voice I didn't grow on me. I found myself listening to and singing along to "Blue and Evil" on repeat. His vocal fits what he's doing. He's found his voice. His vocal on "Blue and Evil" sounds like Bad Company.
"Athens to Athens" is a great, mellow acoustic tune that reminds me of something off of "Led Zeppelin III" or any of the Willie Dixon songs they had stolen from.
"Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind" is a nice, smooth, old-school folksy closer that shows off Bonamassa's melodic acoustic skills.
I couldn't in good conscience recommend this album to everyone, but fans of guitar music will enjoy it. With this disc, Bonamassa reinforces what fans and detractors have always been able to agree on. The guy can play.
If you like what you hear, check out the 5-song iTunes exclusive "Shepherd's Bush" live album. His cover of Z.Z. Top's "Just Got Paid" segues into a medley of Zeppelin tunes that is amazing.
Standout Tracks: "Steal Your Heart Away," "Blue and Evil" and "Quarryman's Lament"
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