BOOM BOOM

PAT TRAVERS FIDELIS

Probably best known for his 1979 live album, Live! Go for What You Know, Pat Travers has ridden a roller coaster on his thirty year career that saw him without a label by the end of the 1980’s, finding a niche in the blues market, and steadily releasing albums of blues and guitar rock acclaim from his musical peers, fans, and music critics alike, but have never quite realized the commercial success that they deserve. With a loyal following (the Hammer Heads), Travers continues to record and tour, and remains an influence for a whole generation of guitar slingers.


On 2010’s Fidelis, Pat delivers a studio album of all new originals, a top-notch rock effort where the blues influences abound. Travers pulls out all the stops on this outing, with infectious tunes throughout. Great music; great lyrics; not a weak song on the platter. After more than 35 years in the business, Pat still knows how to play powerful rock tunes without using technology as a crutch.

Travers is joined by his touring band: Kirk McKim on second guitar; Rodney O'Quinn on bass; and Sean Shannon on drums. Pat and the band play with passion, delivering a live feel that is not over-produced or computer-augmented.

Classic rock and blues rock fans need to grab this album. While you can get it from Amazon, they’re offering a CD-R with very limited packaging. You can buy directly from Alexus Records to receive a nice 12 page booklet complete with lyrics and all credits.

But I’d encourage you to look at http://www.pattravers.com/ and check the tour dates. If Pat is going to be playing near you, go see him live. His band on the album is also his touring band, and the show is excellent. You can buy the CD there and have him sign it!

 
ASK ME BABY
 

 
 
JOSEPHINE
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

INTO THE ARENA AGAIN

ARENA: THE SEVENTH DEGREE OF SEPARATION

Arena's seventh album explores the last hour of life and the first hour beyond, a concept album about the gradual separation of the soul from its body and the soul's journey between life and death before it reaches the final revelation. The lyrics are, as before, written by the keyboard-master Nolan and are quite dark, but with a positive spin in the end.

The music fits the concept perfectly, with a dark atmosphere, at times melancholic, but through the whole album outstandingly epic. John Mitchell delivers some of the best guitar solos of his career and once again, Clive Nolan confirms his mastery of keyboards. New singer Paul Manzi is a solid replacement for the departed Rob Sowden. It is very difficult to choose the album's highlights, as there are many.

Many of the reviews I've read knocked the album for not being "progressive" enough, and this is certainly an album which will divide their fan base. People looking for epic-length songs may be disappointed, but they should remember the album that flows nicely from track to track, maintaining a consistent atmosphere through a baker's dozen "normal" length songs that all revolve around the cenral theme - certainly a progressive idea, although the music is far more comercially accessible than previous efforts.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable album from start to finish - the music is amazing, and each musician brings something to the table and is at the top of their game.

ONE LAST AU REVOIR

THE TINDERBOX

WHAT IF

UP ALL NIGHT LISTENING TO DARWIN'S RADIO

DEC BURKE: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS

Dec Burke is a UK based guitarist/vocalist who has previously written recorded and performed with Frost* and Darwin's Radio. After leaving Darwin's Radio in late 2009, Dec embarked on this new solo project.

While I wouldn't call Destroy All Monsters a prog record, the influences are there, and the album bears more than a passing resemblance to Burke's work with Darwin's Radio. Burke has come up with some pretty good tunes for his first time at bat.

Burke has a solid voice and is a talented instrumentalist. Playing guitar, keyboards and supplying vocals himself, Burke delivers an element of restraint not exhibited on Darwin's Radio releases. He showcases talent as an arranger, with huge bass pedals, programmed beats and fantastic choruses with songs drenched in orchestral keyboards.

The production is dense yet never muddled, and Burke’s breathy vocals suit the material and carry the emotion of the lyrics extremely well. The atmosphere calls to mind Porcupine Tree during their laid back moments.

Absent a new Darwin's Radio release, this album showcases Burke’s talents, and warrants a listen.

SOMETIMES

 

A LIVING LEGEND NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF

SEASICK STEVE: I STARTED OUT WITH NOTHIN'
AND I STILL GOT MOST OF IT LEFT

If you love acoustic blues, you will appreciate Seasick Steve, a brilliant self-taught blues man who plays with a three-string guitar and a wooden box to beat time.

He may refer to himself as "a song and dance man," but American blues musician Seasick Steve - is indisputably a living legend.
　
I had to buy his 2008 release based on the title alone.

I Started Out With Nothin' And I Still Got Most Of It Left is a great blues album, with a brilliant title and clever lyrics.

If you love acoustic blues, you will appreciate this album. Steve's voice is homey and gruff and his songs sound as lived-in as an old comfortable shirt.
　
Steve's bluesy, bluegrass, folky music is interspersed with humorous asides, including the finale, a tale from his life living on the road.

His music is as infectious as his story telling, with generous helpings of country, cajun and folk in the mix. On some songs, the slide guitar reminds me of a slightly rawer Keb Mo, great, foot tapping, slide blues to get your foot tapping and soon you find yourself singing along.

Sure to get you groovin' in dirty, dirty blues.

NO USE TRYING TO LOOK COOL IN A MINI-VAN

THE BLACK KEYS: EL CAMINO

A little housekeeping here.

If there are only two men on the album cover, can we really call it a band?

Wouldn't they be a duo?

And if the name of the album is El Camino (and it is), shouldn't there be an El Camino on the cover rather than a minivan?

Rolling Stone once called the duo a two-man combo with a big-band mind, a description that illustrates the hard-rocking El Camino perfectly.

On their fourth effort for the Nonesuch label, guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney conjure up an exhilarating, stadium-sized sound in collaboration with producer and friend Danger Mouse.

El Camino is fast-paced, with an upbeat mood and addictive choruses that are perfect for shouting along in a large, sweaty festival crowd.

This record is more straight ahead rock and roll raw, driving, and back to basics. The Black Keys respect the past while being in the present, and that formula often recalls the blitzkrieg-paced British-style rock of the 1960s and 70s, although the sound is very much contemporary and utterly their own.

A band already at the top of its game has gotten even better, with a more polished and accessible sound with only a hint of artistic surrender.

El Camino features one stand-out track after another, and you'll have a blast listening to this album.

SATISFY YOUR SWEET TOOTH

JIM KELLER: SOUL CANDY

Jim Keller, co-founder of the rock band Tommy Tutone, and the co-writer of a song ingrained in the consciousness of a generation (867-5309/Jenny), is back with his sophomore solo album, Soul Candy. The album marks the natural evolution of Keller's talent of writing indelible hooks, paying tribute to an instinctual approach to the art of songwriting.

Recorded with members of his current live band and various friends, the album is made up of a year s worth of writing and playing together. Soul Candy captures the raw energy of Keller s live shows and conjures driving guitars and Hammond organs backing blues-tinged love narratives, gospel influences and pop delights.

Solid, well-crafted tunes abound, whether soulful ballads or toe-tapping up-tempo pieces that highlight Keller's versatility as a songwriter and musician of the same caliber as John Hiatt or James Taylor.

One of the better records that I have heard in a while.