REVIEW: New music releases from Billy F. Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Nazareth, more

Billy F. Gibbons
The Big Bad Blues
(Spinefarm)
★★★★

There are few listening pleasures as enjoyable as surrendering to a new Billy F. Gibbons release. King of the big, gritty bottom end, this full-on blues release crawls along from opener Missin’ Yo Kissin’ like a saucy Kim Kardashian Instagram posting. My Baby She Rocks keeps the party right on track and Second Line delivers the goods so fine with its Chuck Berry bounce rhythm.

It’s impossible to distinguish between Gibbons and ZZ Top when both are essentially the same. The top-notch blues of Let The Left Hand Know and Bring It To Jerome could have come straight out of the early 70s ZZ Top songbook. This is boogie-fied blues at its big and bad finest.

Joe Bonamassa
Redemption
(Provogue/Mascot)
★★★★

Thirteen can prove to be lucky for some, as is the case with this immersive and career-defining blues release by Bonamassa. Kicking off with a cheeky nod, via his Black Country Communion connection, to Led Zeppelin on bruising opener Evil Mama, Redemption is brimming with staggering guitar work and a broadening of music styles.

Epic track The Ghost Of Macon Jones steals the show with its portentous lyrics and apocalyptic guitar. Self Inflicted Wounds and the bar-room barrelling bounce on Molly O seal the deal on Jo Bo’s finest solo release, so far.

Nazareth
Loud & Proud!
(BMG)
★★★★★

A voice that could strip the paint from a disused warehouse and a band that could demolish said warehouse when fully locked into their heavy riffs, Nazareth deliver the goods with this ultimate career-spanning box set and condensed 3 CD anthology.

Witness the mighty hard rocking crunch of Bad, Bad Boy and Hair Of The Dog and hear why Axl Rose lauded singer Dan McCafferty as a major influence. A further pair of Top Ten hit singles: Broken Down Angel and This Flight Tonight included here, proved a subtlety of touch amongst the heavy-handed fist of rock anthems.

An enlightening and essential collection from Scotland’s finest ever rock band.

Renaissance
Prologue
(Esoteric/Cherry Red)
★★★★

Formed by erstwhile members of major music disrupters The Yardbirds, Renaissance spread their wings and flew in a different direction as a new band with this masterful slice of progressive folk.

Legendary sweet-toned vocalist Annie Haslam sings beautifully on Kiev. She develops her pure singing approach to ethereal effect on Spare Some Love.

However, it’s on album epic Rajah Kahn where all musicians perform, with Curved Air’s Francis Monkman guesting on early VCS 3 synth, bringing their combined magical talents to the fore.

Greenslade
Greenslade
(Esoteric)
★★★

Formed by members of Colosseum and King Crimson, this self-titled early 70s artefact details a band of crack players, who eschewed the need of a guitarist, that produced innovative and mostly mesmerising complex music.

The dynamic passages of involved music on Feathered Friends and An English Western are rewardingly accompanied by an extra disc of rare BBC live and studio recordings. All of which takes the listener back down the musical rabbit hole to this fondly remembered time.