Tommy Bolin manages to even entertain a die-hard metalhead
Reviewing metal I suppose can get a little samey, even for someone who is a fan of the genre... sometimes you just want to get away for a bit. Imagine then my curiosity when this CD of bluesy rock by Tommy Bolin arrived on my doorstep. With a mixture of excitement and trepidation in the face of something new, I was soon pleasantly surprised by this record.
In terms of style, I suppose you could describe Tommy Bolin's music as a mix of blues influences and classic rock, not dissimilar to the music bands such as The Raconteurs are peddling around these days. Indeed, this album would probably go down well with any fan of Jack White's various musical projects and at times I wondered if that was perhaps a calculated move. There's a nice mix on this CD of classic groovy rock guitar, striking piano sections and groovy rhythm sections, and I have to say that for someone who wouldn't usually entertain the thought of listening to this sort of music, I thought it was actually quite good.
The production job is clear and crisp and is entirely without an entire instrument breaking ranks and sounding out of place. From the little I've heard of this style many artists often choose to go for a rather lo-fi and brash sound which never really has pleased my ears, luckily then I was quite pleasantly surprised by the excellent production job done on this album.
On the whole, this wasn't my usual cup of tea but to extend the metaphor a bit... it is one I gladly drunk. Tommy Bolin's latest CD is a nice and relaxing collection of blues-rock which even hardened metalheads or crazy techno-fans could hopefully find some entertainment in. Whilst it's not breaking new boundaries and isn't destined for great things, this album is a nice little number.