Thursday, May 24, 2012

Joe Bonamassa 'Driving Towards the Daylight'




It’s hard to believe that Joe Bonamassa is not more of a household name.  At age 35, his 13th album, Driving Towards the Daylight, comes less than a year after the excellent Dust Bowl and is quite possibly his strongest work yet.   This past week, several new albums have been released that I have been waiting for, but Driving Towards the Daylight has been played on repeat since I picked up a copy on Tuesday.

Producer Kevin Shirley first teamed up with Joe Bonamassa back in 2006 for You and Me and the partnership is one that has proven to be very successful.

The album contains the trademark blues, rock & roll, and roots you would expect from one of the greatest guitar players in the world, however, the songwriting on the four original Bonamassa-penned tracks are the true highlight of Driving Towards the Daylight.

Kevin Shirley has done a fantastic job putting together a top notch group of session players on this record, including Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford and son Harrison Whitford on guitar, Anton Fig on drums, Michael Rhodes on bass, and Arlan Shierbaum on the keys-all of which elevate Bonamassa to new heights.  Not to mention a guest appearance from Aussie, Jimmy Barnes, on one of his own classics, “Too Much Ain’t Enough” which serves as the album closer.

If Bonamassa was to ever have a breakthrough “hit” single, the odds are in his favor on the title track, which is available for a free download on iTunes.  Bonamassa shreds on his interpretation of Robert Johnson’s “Stones In My Passway” and makes a 75-year-old blues song sound new again.  Another exceptional cover comes by way of Howlin Wolf’s “Who’s Been Talkin,”in which Joe Bonamassa delivers some major Zeppelin riffs, channeling “Whole Lotta Love.”

Just like Eric Clapton in many ways, Joe Bonamassa’s secret weapon is actually his vocals, which have matured wonderfully on this record, in particularly on “Heavenly Soul.” 

Bonamassa delivers a massive guitar solo on Tom Waits’ “New Coat of Paint” and this one is worth the price of admission alone…

All in all, this record is Joe Bonamassa’s most solid effort to date and one of his bluesiest albums in years…hopefully #13 is his lucky number and the album that will finally earn him the recognition (and Grammy) he most certainly deserves.

-Will Fisher, The Showbiz Kids

Showbiz Kids Rating: 9.5 out of possible 10 

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