Bachman
Heavy Blues
Linus Entertainment
2015
Randy Bachman is a legendary guitarist/vocalist and the main force behind Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who. He has lived and been part of one of the best (if not the best) eras or rock music, which took place between the mid-60s and all the 70s. Everybody knows Randy, no doubt about it, and if you don’t recognise his name then tracks like “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, “Taking Care of Business” & “American Howman” will surely make you say “uhhh yeah really this guy? – I know these songs!”…
Nevertheless, Randy is almost 72 years old nowadays and he still rocks like crazy! I guess one is never too old to rock & roll – if he’s into it body and soul! “Heavy Blues” is a “reminiscent” album full of tracks which remind us how blues-rock, rock & roll and classic rock music used to be in the late 60s early 70s. The production, which was done by the renowned Kevin Shirley, is a bit “retro” and it could probably have been somewhat better & clearer – but one could say that he did it intentionally that way to remind us something of the late60s/early 70s… whatever.
The special guests of the album are some of the best guitarists out there – in the order of their appearance we have: Scott Holiday, Joe Bonamassa, Neil Young, Robert Randolph, Jeff Healey (RIP), Peter Frampton & Luke Doucet. “Heavy Blues” won’t turn your world upside down and it also doesn’t feature a great hit track like the ones Randy used to write in his prime… but it is still a decent album with very good performances in general. Perhaps this album addresses the older ones who are still in love with the “old” blues-rock sound but it also showcases how music used to be by the original players/musicians and not by today’s clones who are dressed up like “clowns” and they badly lack the music quality of the “old” rock masters…
Nevertheless, Randy is almost 72 years old nowadays and he still rocks like crazy! I guess one is never too old to rock & roll – if he’s into it body and soul! “Heavy Blues” is a “reminiscent” album full of tracks which remind us how blues-rock, rock & roll and classic rock music used to be in the late 60s early 70s. The production, which was done by the renowned Kevin Shirley, is a bit “retro” and it could probably have been somewhat better & clearer – but one could say that he did it intentionally that way to remind us something of the late60s/early 70s… whatever.
The special guests of the album are some of the best guitarists out there – in the order of their appearance we have: Scott Holiday, Joe Bonamassa, Neil Young, Robert Randolph, Jeff Healey (RIP), Peter Frampton & Luke Doucet. “Heavy Blues” won’t turn your world upside down and it also doesn’t feature a great hit track like the ones Randy used to write in his prime… but it is still a decent album with very good performances in general. Perhaps this album addresses the older ones who are still in love with the “old” blues-rock sound but it also showcases how music used to be by the original players/musicians and not by today’s clones who are dressed up like “clowns” and they badly lack the music quality of the “old” rock masters…