Time: 50:32
Size: 115.7 MB
Styles: Blues Rock
Year: 2012
Art: Front
[3:33] 1. I Believe
[4:24] 2. Angel
[3:58] 3. Wake Up
[3:08] 4. Tight!
[3:28] 5. Let's Party
[4:35] 6. Kissing You
[2:43] 7. Skool
[5:18] 8. Never Rains
[4:40] 9. I Don't Love You
[3:25] 10. Keep On Going
[6:02] 11. Smuggler's Blues
[5:14] 12. Need Your Love So Bad
Will Johns’ album, Hooks and Lines makes it’s intentions clear from the off. Opening with a gospelly blues stomp, that puts Will’s expressive, gravelly voice and his gritty overdriven guitar to the fore. It’s a theme that runs throughout the recording, Will is front and centre, the focus of attention and that is as it should be, it is after all the Will Johns band and Will is definitely the star.
The music moves on through a selection of well written blues rock tunes that open with the lead single Angel, all showcasing the John’s style of riffy, funk influenced blues rock. It mines a familiar vein to anyone who remembers the earlier stages of Will’s career, the band Glyda and even before that to the days of the Crawdaddy club in Richmond, but now things are more adult, polished and powerful, Will certainly has a distinctive musical style that he has now honed to near perfection. What is most refreshing of all is the lack of typical blues rock excess in the soloing.Throughout the album flash for flash’s sake is eschewed, not to say that there isn’t some spectacular playing, there is, and plenty of it, but it’s held in check in service of the songs. It also means that the solos are far from repetitive, and each form little stories within the song’s wider picture.
It’s clear as the album progresses that these would be the kind of songs that work extremely well live. A sense that the performances and arrangements have been honed through a busy gigging schedule. The hook is often clear from the off, and the pacing is just perfect to encourage a boogie from a live audience, while still working well on record. The album’s more introspective and quiet moments do not back away from the intensity of the rest of the recording making it a cohesive whole. The covers that have been included are true classics as well, Smuggler’s Blues and Need Your Love So Bad. Both of these are finely crafted songs, and easily capable of showing up a less able songsmith, but they don’t jar here at all, they sit finely at the end of the record, and while definitely delivered in the full style of the album, the provide a note of familiarity that can make an easier ‘in’ for unsure listeners. ~Ian McHugh
The music moves on through a selection of well written blues rock tunes that open with the lead single Angel, all showcasing the John’s style of riffy, funk influenced blues rock. It mines a familiar vein to anyone who remembers the earlier stages of Will’s career, the band Glyda and even before that to the days of the Crawdaddy club in Richmond, but now things are more adult, polished and powerful, Will certainly has a distinctive musical style that he has now honed to near perfection. What is most refreshing of all is the lack of typical blues rock excess in the soloing.Throughout the album flash for flash’s sake is eschewed, not to say that there isn’t some spectacular playing, there is, and plenty of it, but it’s held in check in service of the songs. It also means that the solos are far from repetitive, and each form little stories within the song’s wider picture.
It’s clear as the album progresses that these would be the kind of songs that work extremely well live. A sense that the performances and arrangements have been honed through a busy gigging schedule. The hook is often clear from the off, and the pacing is just perfect to encourage a boogie from a live audience, while still working well on record. The album’s more introspective and quiet moments do not back away from the intensity of the rest of the recording making it a cohesive whole. The covers that have been included are true classics as well, Smuggler’s Blues and Need Your Love So Bad. Both of these are finely crafted songs, and easily capable of showing up a less able songsmith, but they don’t jar here at all, they sit finely at the end of the record, and while definitely delivered in the full style of the album, the provide a note of familiarity that can make an easier ‘in’ for unsure listeners. ~Ian McHugh
Hooks And Lines mc
Hooks And Lines zippy
2 comments:
Any chance of a re/up on this thanks in advance
No need now as I found.
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