| MICHAEL McDERMONT...LAST CHANCE LOUNGE.. KOCH RECORDS...**** All right, enough with the doggoned Bruce Springsteen comparisons. Michael McDermont�s been paying his dues since 1991 at the tender age of 20, and his street-smart folk-rock has superseded and transcended the easy-out, lazy, review writer crap. Come on folks, everything�s been done right? So give the guy a break. His songs kick ass lyrically as well as musically, and his rootsy folk-rock is as fresh as we�re gonna get, here in the new millennium. There�s not a clunker on the album and every song shows definite growth as pertaining to the work of one of the best songsmiths around right now. Sure, he�s been drunk and on drugs, but that intoxicated past has only fueled his natural talent and creativity in the here and now. He proclaimed that Anti-depressants only made his work stale; and staying straight only made his writing boring as hell. Well, if this new album is any indication, Mike�s surely found a happy medium where his river of talent flows neatly, even if it�s not completely a dedication to sobriety. In a quote from his promo-package, McDermott says �I think words have lost their meaning, or have become so watered down in their meanings. I hope to bring the importance of the word back. People don�t talk in stories anymore, they speak in bites. I want to tell stories.� I�m not going to short-change the guy by reciting lyrics here, go out and buy the album and get the full, satisfying experience; something that I can�t give here in black and white. Don�t just let this stuff blow by you, listen to the lyrics. Check out the rollicking, stuttering, harmonica fueled jam of the opening cut, �Getting Off The Dime� to get a taste of what it means to give up the monkey. �Unemployed� is a tongue-in-cheek, ode to the blue-collar worker. �20 Miles South Of Nowhere� is filled with interesting characters and their bar-fly tales of lives in turmoil, �Annie And The Aztec Cross� is a true story about a girl he knew that had AIDs. �Murder On Her Lips� is a uneasy song about a woman who you�d better keep one eye on at all times. All of these songs are top-rate. McDermott calls his music �Dylan meets U2� or �Folk-Rock�. These terms do apply, but he also incorporates a lot of other influences into his sound-scape that reveal a deeper, abiding passion for many other artists who he�s listened to during his life. He�s admitted to having been a fan of such diverse artists as Tom Waits, Van Morrison, and Peter Gabriel. This album is his own baby though, and cheap comparisons won�t do justice to �Last Chance Lounge.� Give it a chance. ROBERT CRAY...SHOULDA BEEN HOME RYKODISC**** A native of Columbus, Georgia, Robert Cray has redefined the blues styled southern soul sound that has been his trademark for over 25 years. Since forming his first band in 1974, Cray has garnered 1 double platinum album, 3 gold albums and 5 grammy awards. During this time he has also backed such luminaries as Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon. Cray�s musical heroes include O.V. Wright, Otis Redding and Muddy Waters and his influences range from Ray Charles to Theolonius Monk to T-bone Walker and Sam Cooke. His new release, �Shoulda Been Home� is his second album for Rykodisc, the first being the grammy award winning �Take Your Shoes Off�. The new collection includes 5 Cray originals, and a great selection of choice covers. The upbeat, horn-driven opener, �Baby�s Arms� is sure to attract radio air-play. Two Elmore James songs including: �Cry For Me Baby� and � The 12 Year Old Boy� exemplify Cray�s traditional blues abilities with great power, and a cover of Mack Rice�s Stax classic �Love Sickness� is really cool. The song �I�m Afraid� feels like a great, lost Al Green cut. The epic song �Out Of Eden� clocks in at over 9 minutes and tells a tale of life in the neighborhood Written by the band�s keyboard player, Jim Pugh, it is unlike anything the Robert Cray Band has done before. You can tell that this album was made in the traditional way that records used to be made. The songs were written before the band went into the studio, and all of the cuts were played live. Producer Steve Jordan who has worked with the likes of Keith Richards and The Neville Brothers, takes the helm and is able to pull something different out of the individual band members, and take them to new levels. All in All, this is another satisfying Cray album to add to a long success story that can only go on. Although �Shoulda Been Home� may be a little more soul than blues on most cuts...we also get the traditional blues efforts on the Elmore James covers, and Cray hasn�t really done trues blues like these two cuts, ever before. BOBBY MANRIQUEZ...ANOTHER SHADE OF BLUE(S) SELF-RELEASED...*** Native Washingtonian Bobby Manriquez plays a killer guitar. A favorite of guitar players world-wide, Manriquez has played lead guitar for Wilson Pickett, and has been affiliated with Springsteen alumni Nils Lofgren. He�s also received positive press in such major publications as Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines. Although Manriquez�s self-produced new album �Another Shade Of Blue(s) is not strictly blues oriented in any sense, the blues still run through it in no uncertain terms. A lot of funk, jazz and straight ahead rock and roll pervade this release also, and everything melds together pleasantly to create a wholesome, entertaining listen. Highlighted by his searing, understated masterful string-magic, this album is a showcase for top-notch guitar work-outs. Although no stranger to the drums or the keyboards, Manriquez shines on the electric guitar, drawing inspiration from such sources as Jeff Beck, James Brown, early British invasion, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. The only faults that I find with the album are that some of the cuts like �D-Blues�, �FT2�, and �Jump Start� , though nicely played, seem a little too short. More like snippets or unfinished efforts than fully realized songs. The reason for my saying this is because I saw the original 10 song album track-listing from 2000, and the added 3 cuts to the 13-cut 2001 release were the above mentioned. I Also think that the order of the songs could be arranged to better effect, like replacing �Evocation� to it�s original opening slot, it being an intro-like composition. I also noticed the differing song order listing from the original 2000 release. Great songs abound though on the album, cuts like the rollicking �Boogie Man�s Comin�� and the sexy-groove of �Another Shade Of Blue� are outstanding. Other killer songs include the rocking �Devil Heart� and the inspirational, gospel-like �G-Blue�. If you want to hear one of the better guitar slingers around today, check out Bobby Manriquez. You can get Bobby�s album at www.b-side-blues.com |