Music : From the Reach

Rating: - Guitarist par excellence !! Please listen to this man
The new album by the best guitarist in the world bar none - you really need to know no more ! I heard Sonny Landreth by accident on "Last FM" and was so captivated that i rushed out and bought all of his albums that i could lay my hands on. Unfortunately because of the English mentality that was "none" at the time and I had to order from the USA. If you're coming to Sonny Landreth now you are luckier as these fine albums are now available in this country easily through Amazon. This is Mr Landreth's latest offering and a fine piece of work it is too. Most albums featuring "guest stars" can get a little tiresome as it can turn into a "spot who's playing what" exercise but this is a fabulous album where everything just blends together perfectly. There's not a duff track anywhere from this Louisiana king of the slide guitar.

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Rating: - Mediocre
This album got good magazine reviews and although I wasn't overly impressed by "Grant Street" which I already own, I tried it.

Frankly the album is boring. Sometimes you have to listen to a CD a few times to "get it" and I tried with this one, honestly I did. No doubt staunch Landreth fans will give it a 5 star rating but I don't believe it deserves them.

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Rating: - Sonny slides in...
Sonny Landreth is an amazing slide guitarist who has a completely distinctive style that couldn't be any one else. Unfortunately the downside of such distinctiveness is that it can also be a bit samey. I've found his last two CDs a bit samey and was hoping that this CD with its all-star guests could bring something new to his sound. However, I don't think that it does.

For me the overall feel of the CD is too much like all Sonny's other records, there are no new sounds or rhythms and many of the songs sound like tracks he's recorded previously. The guests actually make minimal contributions and the album would have sounded more or less the same if there had been no guests at all. In truth the mix on Sonny's records is too full for another guitarist, and his own guitar sound is so 'massive' that the guest guitarists are reduced to the odd few bars of solos and a bit of noodling around in the background before Sonny steams in again.

'When I Still Had You' with Clapton is probably my favourite track, with Clapton contributing a nice, short solo. Clapton's other track 'Storm Of Worry' is OK as is 'Way Past Long' with Robben Ford but I wasn't convinced by the Hurricane Katrina song 'Blue Tarp Blues' with Mark Knopfler. 'Howlin moon' with Dr. John helping out on keyboards is also a good track which sounds different in that it has a bit more space in the mix for the keyboards.

Sonny contributes some fantastic slide playing but I would say if you already have Outward Bound or Levee Town you don't really need this. Overall I also found the album a bit bland and almost 'pop'-sounding I'd like to hear him doing something with a bit more guts, with some good classic blues songs rather than relying too much on his own songs. Two and a half stars...

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Rating: - Two stars - just because the sun is shining at the time of writing.
Sorry all you 5-star reviewers out there, but I tend to agree more with the one star guy.
Yes a guitar fest by some real talents, but I'm afraid to say that by track five I was losing the will to live through boredom.
Each of the artists has done infinitely better as individuals, so quite how they agreed that this was suitable to market is beyond me.
Perhaps better next time.

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Rating: - Excellent ... just excellent
With an album of this calibre, it is tempting to slip into muso mode with a lot of technical jargon and overlook the sheer understated, relaxed brilliance of the music and the musicians making it. Suffice it to say that if you had to count the most accomplished guitar players in the world on one hand, Sonny Landreth should always have a place in the top 5. Whatever your taste, if you like quality workmanship and skilful playing in music that is built to last, give this a try. If you have not listened to Sonny Landreth before, you could be in for a treat. This is music -making at its best. Excellent ... simply excellent.