Unspoiled by Progress [Import]

I am an electric blues aficionado and it's painful how long the wait usually is between each discovery of newly released great electric blues. With the unveiling of this CD by Walter Trout... I almost want to say the wait was worth it... but the time spent aching and searching for classic electric-blues-rock is always too long... and really does give me the blues! But... a find like this will certainly fuel all electric-blues-rock lovers with the ongoing belief... and hope... that a five-star performance as provided here by Walter Trout can be just around the corner.

There are twelve outstanding songs on this CD... you can be fooled, if you don't look closely you will think there are fourteen songs... but #5 and #7 are twenty seconds and ten seconds of Walter live "humor. On #5 he goads a band member to imitate Yoko Ono... and on #7 he orders a drink from the bar for a band member. BUT DON'T YOU WORRY! The twelve real songs are SEVENTY-SEVEN-MINUTES of diesel-powered electric blues. The opening song "THEY CALL US THE WORKING CLASS"... is a song that sounds like one Springsteen would sing... if he had cajones the size of The Rock Of Gibraltar... Walter does... and the power emanating from this rocker... feels like the ground beneath an inter-continental-ballistic-missile launch... and the lyrics echo today's economic environment. "LIFE IN THE JUNGLE" combines heavy strings with powerful vocals... all the songs are excellent blues-rock with an acoustic blues song and an instrumental thrown in.

AND THEN... AND THEN... I would like to give my review on song #10 individually. Up till now... my review has used the term blues-rock... but with song #10 "FINALLY GOTTEN OVER YOU"... I want to make sure potential buyers understand fully... that on #10... I'm not talking about blues-rock anymore! On #10 I AM TALKING ABOUT DA BLUES BABY! ABSOLUTE... UNEQUIVOCAL... ELECTRIC... BLUES! This is the kind of blues that come from deep down inside... and Walter growls as well as sings. He will remind you of Buddy Guy at his best... he bends the strings so powerfully... you have to think about the late great STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN... he blows harp... so eloquently... you think of Junior Wells... and he puts it all together simultaneously...for ELEVEN-MINUTES-AND-THIRTY-EIGHT-SECONDS... that's the way real electric-blues needs to be played. On a personal note... I have made a number of friends by talking "the-blues" through Amazon reviews the last two-and-a-half-years... and the people that have got to know me... know I don't give my blessing easily when it comes to electric blues. To all my buddies out there... let me simply say that song #10 "FINALLY GOTTEN OVER YOU" makes this whole purchase worthwhile. I look forward to hearing from you!

So far I've bought this album and the previous Relentless. Any time I need to get "jacked up," or want to feel raw life and feel "how it is out there," this is what I listen to. Trout is absolutely THE BEST in working class hard rock blues. None better whatsoever.

LOVE THIS GUY THIS ALBUM IS REALLY GOOD,JUST SAW HIM @ THE WILMINGTON RIVERFRONT BLUES FEST.INCREDIBLE WALTER TROUT DIDN'T EVEN COME UP FOR AIR.HE TRULY APPRECIATES HIS FANS.THIS ALBUM REALLY SHOWS HOW VERSATILE THIS GUY IS,AND HOW HE WRITES AND PLAYS FROM THE HEART.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars