Rating: 5/5
Review:
A cracking album
This is a cracking album.
I had reservations before trying it because great musicians who have
flourished in great bands don't always make great solo albums, by any
means. (This even applies, in my view
anyway, to towering musical geniuses like Pete Townshend.) However, this is a really good solo album
even if it's not perhaps a great one.
Keith Richards has been so often lampooned as a mumbling,
incoherent, drug-damaged wreck that it's sometimes possible to forget what a
truly great guitarist and songwriter he is.
This is a mixture of originals and covers, every one of which is a
belter in its way (with the possible exception of Goodnight Irene, which isn't
all that memorable but is still perfectly OK).
There's the mix you'd expect of blues in various styles and good ol'
Rock & Roll – and I like it, yes I do.
:o) From the opening title track,
a great picked blues with just Keith and his guitar, through world-weary
country-tinged songs like the excellent Robbed Blind to Stones-like rockers
like Something For Nothing, it's a terrific, varied set.
Lyrics and vocals aren't Keith's strongest suit, but he does
just fine here. Lyrically, it isn't the
richest album you'll ever hear, but there's wit and atmosphere, and the words
and Keith's delivery fit the music perfectly.
He doesn't attempt vocal feats which he can't manage, and what emerges
is just right to my ears.
In short, this is a bit of class from a truly classy
musician to whom I owe a vast debt of gratitude for 50 years of great
music. It's well worthy of him, and I
can recommend it very warmly.
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