Black Rock - Hit or Miss

[guitartango]

Just downloaded JB's Black Rock, not sure if i really like it or not. After a second listen i am still in two minds

So HIT OR MISS ?

[hagarfreak33]

I just got it-haven't had the chance to go through it yet-just loaded it on the ipod going to bring it to work today-then i will leave some feedback :)

[duhvoodooman]

Thusfar, I've only played it all the way through once. On first listen, it's far from my favorite JB album, but I reserve final judgment for after minimum of 3 times through. There were several tunes I liked quite a bit and several that left me cold. Nothing that really grabbed me on first exposure, like Ballad of John Henry did. And I get the definite impression that he was focusing more on his singing on this CD than his guitar playing.

[Jimi75]

Hey there friends,

I was acutally planning on buying this album for the family holidays that start this weekend, but the massive criticism of the soundquality and the "so and so" songwriting made me think about it for another two or three days.

What I have heard so far were just the usual youtube clips and I must admit that I liked Joe's last album better than the two he isseud before those, but I feel I became more like one of these Joe album buyers that buy the cd just to have the complete collection.

To me his songwriting became a little boring, pretty forseeable songs, I miss that fine feeling for hooks and song structures like in songs such as "Colour & Shape" for example. :what

But of course I will not judge on the album until I bought it and heard it for at least 3-4 times. Well, maybe my wife already bought it for me so I do not have to make that decision :-)

Looking forward to read what your opinions are on Black Rock.

[marnold]

Jimi! Good to see you again. Have an Altbier for me.

Back to the topic at hand: I've given it one listen-through. There's a couple of slower tracks that probably won't get much rotation for me. I really like the last track "Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind." Like DVM, I've got to give it a couple more listens-through, but my initial impressions were very positive. As I mentioned elsewhere, he seems to be going for more of a "live in the studio" kind of feel as far as the production goes.

It's probably not going to supplant "You and Me" as my favorite Bonamassa album, but it's a fine addition to my collection.

[Blaze]

From what i heard ,i am not impressed for the moment ..

In the last 2 albums he has found a winning formula but the formula is maybe repeating,it is often the case for most creators.

I 'd like to hear some Fenderish tune from him but it seems he will be a Gibson Boy for a good while..

Hey Jimi , good to hear from you , welcome back !:AOK

[Geraint Jones]

I bought this and an album by English singer Laura Marling to listen too while I took the dog out today , I must admit Laura won hands down on the first listen , to be fair does the world need another cover of Bird on a Wire , i`ll give it another go tomorrow , maybe the sun`ll be shining then .

[guitartango]

There are some good songs on the album, but this is not Ballard or blues deluxe. Should be on my third playing by tomorrow so either it will be a keeper or assigned to the waste bin.

The duet between the King and JB sounds rubbish (sorry my mp3 player)

[hagarfreak33]

Well i listened to it all day and i like it-ill go with "three times a fool "and "nightlife" as the highlights of the cd to me.:applause

[Jimi75]

Finally, I have listened to it yesterday evening for 2 times.

I think the complains about the sound quality are not justified. The sound is "earthy", but all in all it is way more preferable than the last couple of hightech productions, although I am still no big fan of Kevin Shirley as the producer.

There is one gem on the album and this is the song Nightlife. No wonder this sounds great - B.B. King himself plays and sings on that track and soon you'll see why the B.B. man is still the King Of The Blues.

Some of the tracks follow a more folkloristic approach in implicating wind instruments for e.g., which I like, because it shows that Joe has been influenced by the cultural surrounding while recording in Athens, Greece.

Generally, I have the impression that Joe's music is getting harder and harder. Some of the background singing arrangement in Black & Evil reminded me of Metallica's Load & Reload phase. It seems as if the bluesier songs are very much constructed just to have some blues going on on that album. This caught my eye already on the last two albums.

The solos on this album are flat out boring. Where have all the fantastic Bonamassa solos gone to? Joe's 16th and 32 runs Ã* la Eric Johnson are impressing, but they do not suffice to make a technical perfectly played solo a great memorable solo. Those Eric Johnson like runs are Joe's new signature runs and he plays them whenever he starts playing a solo. I am convinced of the fact that Bonamassa can do better!

The singing is a so and so thing. For example, people complained about Joe sounding a little bit like a frog due to false singing technique. So one day he started taking some lessons and became an acceptable singer, with a sense for nice melodies and that kind of languor in his melody lines.

On the past two albums and esepcially on this new one, he's running in circles with his singing. Did you also figure out that most of his singing lines culminate in the same singing move? It's pretty uncreative and very predictable. Don't get me wrong, this guy was a way better singer today, if he finally started making use of his singing potential.

If I was the producer (dream on Jimi75 :happy ) I would tell Joe to work on the hooklines more. Most "narcisstic" guitarplayers think that a rhythmic break with an "Ahh yeah" and some kind of choir in the background is a hook. Sorry, it's not and these tracks cry for hooklines.

Listen closely to the choruses in the songs. They all sound more like a pre-chorus, but not like the peak of the song! The vocal lines are not catchy.
They sound like the stuff Joe always sings. Time to expand the singing horizon Joe! Time to write hooks again!

I don't wanna be complaining, because this album surely is better than most of the stuff that is published nowadays. It's sure high level complaining, but I only do this because I followed Joe from his first steps as a solo artist on, saw him life couple of times and I know that he can do better.

The bottom line is...Black Rock is a good album with some balls, as long as you like guitar oriented music with a litte bit of Blues flavour this is a good buy.

[guitartango]

For me its a bit like christmas, big build up then everything goes flat on boxing day. This is not a bad album, but the choice of songs are ok and they should be brilliant.

Next time Joe, cover a Peter Green song....... please !

[Tig]

A quick but informative interview:
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/bonamassa-0322/