This phenom is getting major hype, huge kudos from newbies, some of it merited. He's got guitar chops, but is not original, and still has absolutely nothing on the generations of great blues guitar masters before him, whose stuff he's cobbled together into a slick commercial sound. Take the title track: Jeff Beck+ Stevie Ray Vaughan+ Buddy Guy+shreddy 80s/90s style is the end result, and you may still wind up thinking, hm, I've still heard better, more soulful, more honest. Go listen to some Guitar Slim, Roy Buchanan, Mike Bloomfield, Elmore James, the Kings, Icepick, etc. etc.
|