When the hype delivers.
Black Country Communion

As one hype follows another, so the latest rock 'Supergroup' hit the CD shelves and iTunes libraries in September.
'Black Country Communion' featuring the talents of Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian was much touted and promoted prior to release, and that made me a little wary...

The term 'Supergroup' has been used a lot lately, maybe too frequently, and although 'Chickenfoot' featuring the likes of Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani did big business I didn't think the songs were strong enough to merit the hype.
'Yoso', including Bobby Kimball and original Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye, hinted of great things and had some great songs, but overall failed to impress.
Turns out though, while not being the Greatest Heavy Rock Album in the World Ever, 'BCC' is a bloody good album. 

To be fair it always had a chance, what with the talents of blues-rock guitar virtuoso Bonamassa and the 'Voice of Rock' pedigree of Hughes.
When you add the solid and powerful drumming of Jason Bonham (a chip off the old Bonzo block) and the keyboard playing of Derek Sherinian you have a recipe for heavy rock success - as long as the chemistry works and the egos are left outside in the studio car park.
And, for the most part, that's exactly what we have here. 

I'm a huge fan of Joe Bonamassa, so anything that features Joe is off to a good start in my Muirsical world. And while I acknowledge the vocal legacy of Hughes, he has in the past tended to make a piece of music all about his vocal range rather than the song.
To be fair it's primarily the live environment where he sometimes slips into the heavy rock equivalent of Mariah Carey (and that's not a good thing in my music book), but on 'BCC' there is no sign of such over-singing.
He does wander into the realms of vocal workouts a few times, but in this particular musical melting pot it's an acceptable trait. 

The interesting thing about 'BCC' is I find the album gets better as the listener gets further into the track order - almost as if the band is trying out various heavy rock skins early on to see what ones fit best.
The opener, 'Black Country', with its galloping bass run is a little predictable while the following number 'One Last Soul' is a more solid and melodic song that would have sat fairly comfortably on the classic 'Hughes Thrall' release of 1982.
'The Great Divide' has Hughes heading into Anastacia territory vocally but the band then suddenly finds their feet and their own groove...

'Down Again' may be the best song Free never wrote and 'Song of Yesterday' featuring Bonamassa on lead vocal and extended solo has a Zeppelin-esque quality over its eight minute length.
'Beggerman' and 'No Time' are a couple of fast paced rockers that, for me, are both far stronger than the opening number. 
'Medusa', a song from Hughes' 'Trapeze' days gets a great heavy blues airing here, and Bonamassa plays a very specific 1968 Gibson Les Paul on the track.
The guitar was previously owned by the late Mel Galley, Hughes' old sparring partner in 'Trapeze'. Nice touch.

Others worth mentioning include 'The Revolution in Me' (Bonamassa on lead vocal and at his gritty blues rock best), the punchy heavy rythym and rock of 'Sista Jane' (featuring Hughes and Bonamassa on vocals) and 'Stand (at the Burning Tree)'. The latter has shades of purple in its musical colours - Deep ones.
Not only does Derek Sherinian throw some Jon Lord shapes on 'Stand' during specific solos, it also typifies the album's style with its nod to the various British giants of seventies heavy rock.
 
Special mention should go to Sherinian who instead or making sure his own stamp is all over the album, has allowed the music to have its strength in the power-trio format of Bonamassa-Hughes-Bonham.
Sherinian adds Hammond B3 swirls and Korg keyboard fills where necessary to add another musical layer and beef out the sound where needed.

Kevin Shirley has done a great job in production. His work can sometimes be too polished for my tastes but here there is a great balance between the sonic product and raw energy of the band, who were clearly working with limited overdubs.
   
My only gripes are that occasionally there is a hint of predictability about some of the numbers and the last track 'Too Late for the Sun' is a little too long and subsequently the album doesn't close as strongly as it could have.
Much as it's nice to hear the band jamming out, as they do on the closing half of 'Too late', it sounds like it was allowed to remain in this form to give the album a full 70+ minutes of music that is so prevalent in CD releases these days.
Sometimes less can be more, boys. 

Overall though I go back to my earlier comment near the top of this article. 
Bloody good album.
  
Ross Muir
September 2010


The following audio tracks are presented to accompany the above review and promote the work of the artist/s. No infringement of copyright is intended.

One Last Soul (Lead vocal - Glenn Hughes)
Sista Jane (Lead vocal - Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes)