AIN’T DONE WITH THE BLUES Buddy Guy (RCA) *****+
Even at 89 years old, Buddy Guy will never be done with the blues. Despite talk in recent years of slowing down and coming off the road Ain’t Done With The Blues is proof that, if anything, Guy is doing the exact opposite. Expertly produced once again by Tom Hambridge and including several guests Ain’t Done, at 18 cuts, is a generous helping of delicious blues.
As one of the very few legendary blues artists still living and performing, Buddy Guy proudly carries the torch for this music. The album opens with a brief tip of the hat to John Lee Hooker called Hooker Thing that quotes Boogie Chillen, the song that inspired Buddy to pick up the guitar in the first place. Elsewhere One From Lightnin’, a nod to Lightnin’ Hopkins. Inspiring artists like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page back in the day would’ve been enough to secure his legacy but Buddy continues, with Hambridge at his side, to produce vital and exciting blues. His songs are a combination of typical blues concerns along with autobiographical details and stories, enough to lift Ain’t Done above the crowd.
Aside from an A-list of studio guys called in by the Nashville-based Hambridge, the gathering of guests alone is enough to get Ain’t Done With The Blues serious and well-deserved attention; Joe Walsh, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Chuck Leavell on B3, and former Jeff Beck bassist Tal Wilkenfeld. Tom Hambridge’s production is rich and intuitive as Buddy plays and sings with the fire of bluesmen half his age. From high octane boogie to slow burning blues, he leaves no stone unturned. The bulk of the songs were written by Hambridge and Richard Fleming and also include songs from Earl King and Guitar Slim, plus a great cover of J.B. Lenoir’s Talk To Your Daughter.
Bluesrockreview.com states that Buddy Guy has “created a record that will rightfully be deemed historic”, and after one listen you’ll agree…Ain’t Done With The Blues is one for the ages.
HOT TRACKS: Blues Chase The Blues Away, Jesus Loves The Sinner (with the Blind Boys Of Alabama), How Blues Is That (with Joe Walsh), Trick Bag
LOST GOLD E.P. Lost Gold (independent) ****
Here is some West Coast stoner/ doom rock straight out of the city I call home, Victoria British Columbia. Lost Gold’s psychedelic sound is entrancing and hypnotic, recalling early Black Sabbath as much as anything. I could really get used to this sludgy heaviosity.
It’s interesting how we discover music. I didn’t come across these guys online or at a live show, lead singer Jeff Olarnyk is a regular customer in the drive-thru at the Langford Parkway McDonalds where I have a part time job and one day a couple of weeks ago, not knowing I’m also a writer, he said he was excited because his band’s EP had just dropped that day. I checked it out on Spotify, and here we are. The band is a quartet that also includes Joel Bossy on guitars & backing vocals, Tyson Bailey on bass and Jeff Marchi on drums & backing vocals. ‘Doom’ and ‘sludge’ are the right words to describe the 5 tracks on the Lost Gold EP, like a fever dream combining Black Sabbath and The Doors, also not unlike Queens Of The Stoneage. The lyrical themes of mental health issues and the paranormal are intriguing.
I don’t have production notes but Lost Gold has a well balanced mix with nothing too loud or buried in the mix. You can’t dance to this but they do call this stuff ‘stoner rock’ for a reason. Good performances all around with nobody trying to hog the spotlight as they all play for the song. That, and a killer groove you can ride all the way through makes this an unexpected and gratifying find. Gotta stop typing now to I can listen again. There is no physical release as of yet, but you can find Lost Gold everywhere including Spotify and you can thank me later.
https://soundcloud.com/thebandlostgold
HOT TRACKS: Wizard Call, Midnight Sun
WHEN THE WORLD STOPS Babylon A.D. (Kivel Records/ Apocalypse Records) ****
This is the 6th studio album for these Bay Area rockers since their 1989 self-titled debut. When The World Stops is a melodic, hard-rockin’ beast that proves there is more to these glammy hair metallers than meets the eyes and ears. While it’s true I was snobbish on the genre in the 80’s and 90’s (but still a Kiss fan- go figure) I’m really enjoying their latest effort.
The first single from When The World Stops, the title track, dropped in early August and it’s a good indicator of what you can expect when you throw this baby on. Of that song and the accompanying video on You Tube, singer Derek Davis calls it “an apocalyptic love story about two young lovers facing the end of the world. The lyrics are very visual so the listener can really follow the story, and the video conveys the imagery beautifully. I love writing lyrics that have a message and a theme, sort of like a mini movie, and this track captures that. (It’s) a nice hard-hitting up-tempo kick ass tune.” Nuff said.
When The World Stops is the band’s 4th album since Y2K and there have been 3 live records in the last 25 years too, so they take their rock & roll pretty seriously. The band in 2025 includes Derek Davis on vocals, guitar and keys (he also produced, mixed and engineered the record), Ron Freschi on guitar and BG vocals, John Mathews on guitar, Dylan Soto on drums and Craig Pepe on bass, with special guest Julie Pacheco on piano for the requisite power ballad Love Is Cruel. Crunchy riffs abound throughout with hooks sturdy enough to hang your winter coat on, and if you look closer the songs probably mirror your own life too in some respects rather than just bouncing off of you.
It was obviously a mistake back in the day for me to blow these guys off as another corporate hair metal band; When The World Stops has mojo, and I feel like getting lost in this record for a while. This is a rock solid kick-ass thing of gnarly beauty. It comes out in September but is available for pre-order right now.
HOT TRACKS: When The World Stops, Love Is Cruel, Power Of Music, The Damage Is Done (with drummer Dylan Soto on acoustic guitar)
OUT OF THE DARKNESS PART II Jack Starr (Bravewords Records) *** ½
Here is some new, grinding heaviness from one of the founders of Virgin Steele. His solo career started in 1984, and Out Of The Darkness Part II is the spiritual follow up to that first record. A little on the turgid side but not doomy, this is nonetheless quite classic metal.
“This is the album I always hoped I would make” Starr says, “one that would be filled with power and glory but also melodic and passionate at the same time.” Some of the song titles are quite familiar to me by other artists, but that’s coincidental; there are no remakes here, just dark originals. The main band here is Jack Starr (lead guitar), Giles Lavery (vocals; Warlord/ Alcatrazz), Eric Juris (lead guitar: Warlord), Gene Cooper (bass) and Rhino (drums: ex-Manowar). The sound is powerful and thick, something akin to perhaps Dio and latter day Iron Maiden, but I would’ve liked to hear more light and shade. I realize that’s not Jack’s thing save for the ballad Underneath The Velvet Sky, but props to the guys for sticking to their guns.
Lavery has a decent set of pipes for the sort of music OOTD II offers, and the lead guitar breaks are suitably dramatic. This is definitely NOT 80’s hair metal but it did exist in the same time period and the rhythm section of Cooper and Rhino are a punishing take-no-prisoners tandem. Co-produced by Jack Starr and Giles Lavery along with Thomas Mergler, this disc has a definite nostalgic feel as time machine-made music… you can almost feel and hear the hairy knuckles dragging on the ground. There is no real grey area here- it’s the sort of thing you’ll either connect with or not. Lovers of traditional heavy metal, the pre-black and dark metal, would do well to check this out… I leave final judgement up to you.
https://www.facebook.com/jackstarrofficialpage/
HOT TRACKS: Into The Pit, Underneath The Velvet Sky, Sahara Winds, Savage At The Gate
