Joe Bonamassa has come a long way since he opened for B.B. King at age 12. He was always the young blues prodigy in a genre where the masters were the old guys.
Having released 15 albums in the last 13 years alone (some solo, some band projects such as Black Country Communion) in addition to endless touring, he certainly has been putting in the work to build a legacy worthy of the old masters.
Kevin “the Caveman” Shirley has been Bonamassa’s producer since You And Me (2006), and striking up a partnership with him turned out to be one of the smartest things Bonamassa did. Together they have slowly but surely tweaked his sound into something that keeps one leg firmly in the blues, but also adds other influences to make it interesting for people beyond the blues field.
If you look at the classic bluesy hard rock bands like Free, Cream, Hendrix, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin and countless others, this is what all of them did. They started almost with a purist view when it came to blues, but added to their music and grew beyond their beginnings. They all became better for it, and that is exactly what had to happen with Bonamassa. His early efforts were all right, but he became increasingly interesting over time.
Bonamassa finally arrived on his previous album Blues of Desperation (2016). While coming from the blues, it also has a solid rock bite, adds brass, gospel backing vocals, a strong percussive sense of musicality, and a top notch band (which includes former KISS session drummer Anton Fig).
What Bonamassa achieved on the brilliant Blues of Desperation is largely continued on Redemption, which is his thirteenth solo studio album. Perhaps it is too easy to classify it as simply ‘more of the same,’ but in the best possible way, it is. These albums both hold the same high standard and really is how I like my Bonamassa.
While he continues to develop and bring interesting approaches to his music, there isn’t a ton of musical difference between his last two albums. The biggest difference between Blues of Desperation and Redemption may indeed be lyrically.
This is the closest we have been to a heartbreak confessional from this typically guarded bluesman. Songs like Self-Inflicted Wound shows him at his most intimate and vulnerable. The years of steel-eyed focus on professional activities has had a personal cost.
It was fascinating to read a late-night interview from the tour bus in a recent Classic Rock Magazine where he wondered if it had all been worth it. Amongst other things, he was openly speculating about his current relationship status, not even being sure if he still was in a relationship.
A lot of similar feelings of uncertainly and doubt are put into Redemption. But since when was the blues meant to be cheery, anyway?
As a contrast to those types of lyrics, the album has a bold, brassy production, peppered with big gospel backing harmonies, actual brass and good-time licks, as heard in bouncy highlights such as King Bee Shakedown.
The album is bursting with energy and delivers a lot of musical punches. The quality of the musicianship on offer is obviously top-notch. The album contains the virtuoso discipline Bonamassa is known for, while also being one of the most dynamic things he’s done.
Redemption is a rock solid album. For the time being it has taken its place next to Blues of Desperation as my jointly favourite Bonamassa albums. Only time and longer-term perspectives can tell which one will eventually sit alone on top, but I’m not in a hurry to find out.
Suffice to say, I hope Bonamassa retains this sound for a long time yet, but knowing him, he would probably immediately made plans to mix things up had he read this.
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