Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Often a performer will acknowledge the influence of a band or songwriter in a way that an odd song will creep into their repertoire on stage or feature with a wistful air of appreciation on an album; it is a more than a nod to the past, it is a tribute that all who create art must admit to if they are to be seen as sincere and earnest about their craft.
Tributes come easy though, a song here or there across a career does not offer the genuine thanks that is regarded as heartfelt, and it often takes a master to shine a light on the entire genre for the listener to understand why they are so in love, enamoured, with the songs and the past that pushed them onwards.
Whilst it has been mentioned before, to listen to Joe Bonamassa is to hear the greatness of the exemplary pleasure, and it is to the belief that Mr. Bonamassa was the turning point in the saving grace of the Blues genre, and as he marks the release of Blues Deluxe Vol.2, so that genius for memory is shown to be remarkable and dedicated as it ever has been.
The album, which has the sense of self and personality to employ two original tracks in amongst the illumination, and as Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again) and Is It Safe To Go Home give the 21st Century extra ammunition as proof that the genre is alive, well, and full of dynamic thrill, so it is to the ages past that the justice is restored and found to be the observation we as listener missed as the Blues was slowly fading as the previous century turned its back on all but a few luminaries and stalwarts.
Names such as Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, Guitar Slim, Albert King, Pee Wee Crayton, and even a track from Fleetwood’s Mac’s pre radio friendly era in Lazy Poker Blues, are remembered and lauded for their part in the respect to how the godfather of modern blues sees the world and utilises the drama of the music to full effect.
Whether it is in It’s Hard But Its Fair, I Want To Shout About It, Win-O, You Sure Drive A Hard Bargain, the superb Twenty-Four Hour Blues, and The Truth Hurts, Joe Bonamassa and the band fill the air, turning sepia and black and white grainy pictures to full colour, steam to rivers, and the past into a relevance that was always open, frank, and candidly astute.
Tributes come and go, but the timeless will always make time to highlight the pleasures that created their own space at the top, and for Joe Bonamassa there is no one finer to highlight those progressive artists that gave him the inspiration he needed to become the best.
Ian D. Hall