Originally published by L.S. Media. April 13th 2011.

Almost a year to the day since he released Black Rock and fewer than nine months since Black Country Communion’s debut album, Joe Bonamassa has once more turned out an album of pure quality that will appeal to the Blues Rock fan but also to the wide reaching music lover everywhere.

Dust Bowl has all the qualities that you would associate with one of the most laid back guys in Blues, he may be a man of very few words but his fingers do more than just talk for him, they simply ooze conversation without so much pausing for breath. From the opening track of Slow Train, Joe takes the listener on a slow bound journey calling at all stops including inspiration, joy and appreciation.

Of course with Joe, it is not all about what he does, his public may laud him for everything he does but without his fellow musicians he isn’t whole and on this album, Joe has surrounded himself with some of the finest, including American country singer Vince Gill on guitar and vocals on the tracks Tennessee Plates and Sweet Rowena and the talented Glenn Hughes who provides vocals on the track Heartbreaker.

Joe himself has come a long way since his first solo album in 2000, the skill that many have seen including at last year’s inaugural High Voltage music festival, he still has the capacity to send shivers up the spine as he gently teases the guitar of choice but there is now a new, smoother edge to his likeable character. He seems more relaxed on the album and that can only be a good thing for his fans. No longer tied to the restraints of living up to the moniker of the best young Blues player around, his fans and the wider world of music critics already know this, he is able to play with an abandon that is rarely heard in one so young.

Dust Bowl is a stand out album that deserves the air play it will no doubt receive and is certain to be a great prelude to the next Black Country Communion offering due out later this year.

Ian D. Hall