I had a good friend suggest that since the theme of this blog was, oh- what? You didn’t know we had a theme?!?
Okay, to be fair, I do jump around a great deal.
Where was I? Right, since the theme of this blog is a peek inside my head, we really need a music section. I need to do something with books, too, as I read like a voracious carnivore, but I’ll fall off that bridge on another day. Anyhow, I had a good friend suggest that I do something with music in addition to my usual rants.
Ergo, Musical Mondays. Spoiler alert. I make no pretensions as to timeliness… so they might not be on Mondays. AND I can’t promise new music. You’ll just get whatever I happen to be running to at that particular time, on that particular day. Please send me your picks!
So, just punting and seeing where this goes…
Let me introduce you all to Black Country Communion. BCC meet everyone, well, at least, MY everyone. BCC was created in 2010 with their first album, Black Country. They have since released a second album in 2011 entitled “2”. Black Country Communion are a “super group” although outside their genre the “super” members may not be super well-known. So, I’ll introduce them, shall I? Everything is better among friends.
BCC is Derek Sherinian, formerly keyboardist for prog rock favorite, Dream Theater. On guitar BCC boasts Joe Bonamassa who is a successful blues/rock guitarist with eleven solo records to his credit. Drums are masterfully handled by Jason Bonham, formerly of UFO, Foreigner, his own group Bonham, and, for six blissful weeks, Led Zeppelin. Lastly, on bass and lead vocals, we have Glenn “The Voice of Rock” Hughes who honestly, I think, knows everyone in classic hard rock and heavy metal… and beyond. Most notably Hughes has played with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, but he’s had more “projects’ than you can shake a stick at: Joe Lynn Turner, Tommi Iommi, Night Ranger, Pat Travers, hey, he even played with XYZ.
This is the band’s self-promotional YouTube commercial, mind you, VERY few artists get the kind of back up that once was customary, you know, video, press tour, whatever, it’s all gone now. You want to sell albums? Get out on tour and hustle.
You like that bit about “out of the Black Country they came?” That refers to the section of England Hughes and Bonham hail from. It’s industrial and dark. Sherinian and Bonamassa are Yanks, so you pro-American types can be happy, too. See, something for everyone.
I love both BCC albums. In the interests of continuity, I’m focusing on the first album, but “2” rocks, too. (No pun intended there.) I love to run to “One Last Soul” and Bonamassa surprised me with his lead vocals on “Song of Yesterday”. Incidentally, Jason Bonham does Bonzo proud on the second half of that song; the drums are thundering, in a good way. Frankly, I’m so used to Hughes as an awesome vocalist I sometimes forget, he’s a hell of a bassist. BCC splits the line between hard rock and blues. They are not what I would call heavy metal. They are no harder than say a Van Halen (in the Sammie days) or a Nickelback. If Nickelback can be tearing up the charts, I honestly can’t understand why Black Country Communion should be left out of the game. They have far superior musicianship, catchier riffs and hey, as the wise woman once said, “they rock!”
Here’s “One Last Soul” from the album Black Country (this is NOT to sell “2” short, I’m just going in order). Good stuff!
Incidentally, go to Black Country Communion’s website for a free song download and get your BCC library started!
Hope it makes your iPod and I’m looking forward to what you can introduce me to from your library. Though I drift to hard rock, I listen to all types of music, so do not rule anything out thinking I wouldn’t like it.
Make it a great week, my friends. 🙂
P.S. 11:56pm, but still Monday!
