Review: Black Country Communion - Afterglow

A random thought passes as I listen to Black Country Communion's new album Afterglow: with the recent bad blood between bassist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Joe Bonamassa, if Bonamassa was on fire, would Hughes put him out?

Answer, not on Afterglow he doesn't.

Throughout the band's third studio album in as many years, Bonamassa's playing is smoking: Big Train's wah-wah infused rave up; the white hot solos on Midnight Sun and the Giver; the guitar intro to Midnight Sun; or the slow burning slide on Cry Freedom. Bonamassa lights the album up with his best playing to date with this band. Hughes response is to fuel the flames with a collection of songs of great licks and words that twist and turn, offer loud and soft (light and shade?) moments throughout.

If, as has been allowed as possible through various media outlets, this is the end of the line for Black Country Communion, it will prove to be a great pity. On reviewing their first album, I offered a number of times their influences came to the top, on their second album, I noted less of this. On this album, they sound from start to finish uniquely like themselves. Hey are a band that has found an identity. Moments like the dual Hughes/Bonamassa vocals on Cry Freedom or the tight, super-funky groove Hughes and drummer Jason Bonaham get on the Bonham penned piece Common Man sound like Black Country Communion and no one else.

You can't talk about Afterglow without also mentioning Derek Sherinian, who takes a greater role than the first two albums, playing a couple of organ solos that are exceptional. His playing throughout is top notch.

Black Country Communion's Afterglow, which was released yesterday is a great rock and roll album that will improve with time and listenings. It is what these guys do best, flat out rock.

Tracklist:

1. Big Train (Hughes)


2. This is Your Time (Bonham/Bonamassa/Sherinian) (Lyrics Bonham/Hughes)


3. Midnight Sun (Bonham/Bonamassa/Sherinian)(Lyrics: Hughes)


4. Confessor (Hughes)


5. Cry Freedom (Hughes/Bonamassa/Bonham/Sherinian)(Lyrics: Hughes)


6. Afterglow (Hughes)


7. Dandelion (Hughes)


8. The Circle (Hughes)


9. Common Man (Bonham) (Lyrics Bonham/Hughes)


10. The Giver (Hughes/Bonamassa/Shirley) (Lyrics Hughes)


11. Crawl (Bonamassa/Bonham/Hughes/Shirley) (Lyrics Hughes)

Afterglow - The Video and the Preorder

Black Country Communion's third studio album, Afterglow, is now available for pre-order through the Black Country Communion website.

As well, the band released an "in the studio" video yesterday called AFTERGLOW Webisode 1:



Meanwhile, Glenn Hughes seems to be backing away from comments he made last month that this could be Black Country Communion's last album. In an interview, Hughes said that without a deeper level of commitment from guitarist Joe Bonamassa, who also has a successful solo career, perhaps it was time to move on.

Today on twitter, Hughes backed away from that statement:

Peeps~BCC is not splitting up~we have a new album comin'~hey I get a lil sensitive with the media...and controversy makes for good copy..GH

Ramble On Radio Episode #14

Jimmy Page is releasing Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks, Robert Plant's Sensational Space Shifter's is coming together, John Paul Jones plays avant-garde and I discuss it all in this St. Patrick's Podcast.

Also, I review Glenn Hughes book "Glenn Hughes: An Autobiography From Deep Purple to Black Country Communion."

Get Episode #14 here, or subscribe via iTunes, and never miss another episode.

Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography - from Deep Purple to Black Country Communion.

Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography, penned with the help of Joel McIver, covers his career, and life from The late 1960's through to the present day. The fact there is a present day Glenn Hughes is nothing short of a small miracle, a point which is not a minor piece of subtext running through the book.

For Led Zeppelin fans, Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography is of interest mostly because Hughes plays with Jason Bonham in Black Country Communion, but also because Hughes has a couple of run ins with Led Zeppelin, and John Bonham in particular.

In 1971, Bonham turned up at a Trapeze show, Hughes first band. He inserted himself into the drummers chair mid-song and a 15-minute version of Medusa ensued, a song Hughes would later record with Bonham's son in Black Country Communion. Post-show Hughes went back to Bonham's house where they listened to an acetate of Led Zeppelin IV "a good four months before it's global release. We must have heard the album five times. By the time the sun came up, 'When The Levee Breaks' was tattooed on my brain."

A few hours later Robert Plant showed up to take Bonham away on a European tour.

In 1975 Bonham showed up side-stage at Deep Purple show to confront Hughes about an alleged affair with Bonham's wife, which Hughes denies (then and now), and subsequently on to a party at Ron Wood's New York apartment. Later Bonham would punch Hughes and have him kicked out of a Song Remains the Same release party for the same offense.

Then there's this:

You may not believe this, but it's true. In September 1980, I was having a nap in the middle of the day, and I remember Karen coming in and saying, "You'll never guess who's dead." And I said this, out of my sleep: "I know who's dead, it's John Bonham." He'd come to me and whispered in my ear that he'd gone to heaven and told God that he was leaving Led Zeppelin and going to form a new band with Glenn Hughes. And then he said to me, "She's a rich girl now," and that's exactly the dream I had. It came to me while I was sleeping.

It may seem strange that Bonham was in heaven and planning to join a band with the still alive Hughes, but Hughes was by that time mired in addiction problems of his own, mostly cocaine. Who knows what message from beyond John Bonham was trying to tell him.

Hughes addiction problem, coming to grips with it, 20-years wasted, unable to keep a gig, unable to do much of anything but find/take cocaine. Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography is a cathartic process for Hughes, who makes no apologies and holds nothing back, pointing out secrets are deadly to addicts.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi says of Hughes in the book:

he'd burned so many bridges over the years that he had to rebuild every one.

That's what this book is, another strut in Glenn Hughes bridge, being rebuilt one strut, one truss at a time. The focus throughout is his addiction, and the consequences thereof.

Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography is an enjoyable, if sometimes uncomfortable read. Telling the tale of great success and great waste of talent, sometimes all at once. Glenn Hughes has lived one hell of a life, is probably very lucky to be alive (and as anyone who follows Hughes on Facebook or Twitter can tell you, Hughes is very aware of the fact).

Or, to paraphrase, Hughes is the messenger, and this book is his prophesy.

Sunshine Sketches of Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience

Jason Bonham rolls into Central Ontario this weekend, playing Casino Rama in Orillia. Orillia’s claim to fame is the home of Canadian author and humourist Stephen Leacock, and the setting of his most famous book, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Townis reputed to be Orillia.

Heading into the show, Toronto Sun’s Darryl Sterdan has a short interview that is full of information. Bonham tells Sterdan that, should there be another Led Zeppelin Reunion, he’ll find out when we all find out:

When I was last with those guys they said, ‘You will always be the last to know of anything from now on because you can’t keep your mouth shut.’

He adds defeatedly, “They said ‘What are you going to do? Say no?’”

There are a few more very interesting tidbits in the interview, including that the band had to learn “the entire catalogue.” These guys are prepared to play any Zeppelin song (note to Bonham: Fool in the Rain on Saturday Nov 5, please).

As well, he Bonham reports that Black Country Communion will be recording ‘3’ sometime next year. This was reported previously, but Glenn Hughes has since announced he’s recording a solo album and doing a world tour in 2012, which seemed to preclude also doing a BCC album.

Hopefully Black Country Communion doesn't have the same "don't tell Jason rule" as Led Zeppelin does.

Derek Sherinian on BCC

Keyboardist Derek Sherinian has been largely the quiet one when it comes to Black Country Communion, and interviews with him seem to be rarer than with the bands other three members, Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham. With a new solo album coming out, however, he sat down with Bravewords, and managed to spill the beans on what's next for BCC:

Bravewords.com: Black Country Communion - what’s it like working with the voice of rock, Glenn Hughes.

Sherinian: “Glenn is great with his British wit. He’s the elder statesman of rock and it’s a real pleasure to tour with him. The last nine weeks (touring) have been a very smooth ride. I’d love to do more touring with these guys.”

Bravewords.com: True, but why only Europe? Why no BCC in North America?

Sherinian: “We need to do a proper North American tour. We just need to go out there and grind it out.”

Bravewords.com: It’s strange. The first album was great. The second album was better, but the band remains largely hidden from North America.

Sherinian: “It all comes down to demand. We’re selling a lot more records in Europe and the demand for us to play live is greater there. You have to go where the warm current is.”

Bravewords.com: What’s next for BCC?

Sherinian: “Well, we are putting out a live DVD from this last European tour for Christmas and the plan is to make a third record next spring and then next June (2012) we’re going back on tour, but I’m not sure where. That’s the rough sketch.”

The DVD we knew about, but BCC3, plus another summer tour. As I said in the podcast, it's the to come to parts north.

Black Country Communion DVD Blu-Ray

[caption id="attachment_1255" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Photo courtesy of Aubrey Stewart"][/caption]

Black Country Communion bassist/singer Glenn Hughes seems to have let some news drop this morning on twitter:

In Milano… Joe and I will give a press conference for 2morrows[sic] show: then we will be in Pre-production for Filming Blu-ray concerts…

Another tweet later said:

Did press conf. alone: Joe is already @ Studio

He later announced Black Country Communion is filming on the tour for October release. What concert they are planning to record, or if they have already taped a show, is unknown at this stage. But, as Hughes put it in a later tweet, "we are building a foundation."

Review: Black Country Communion 2

The story of Black Country Communion that the band likes to cite is that they are a 70’s style band. By that they mean, they like to cut the basic song track live off the floor. With their second album, Black Country Communion 2, timed in a very 70’s fashion just ten months after the release of their first album, they join the ranks of 70’s style bands in other ways: the naming of the album and progression of the bands music.

On their first album influences were obvious and threaded throughout the album. AC/DC, Bad Company, The Who and Iron Maiden where all out front. This time there is much less sounding like other bands, much more development of their own sound. Oh sure, the keyboard and guitar break in The Outsider is pure Yes, and the guitar lick in Faithless is so very close to Alice Cooper’s Devil’s Food. But they are the exception, and BCC2 sounds instead like Black Country Communion. In fact, the Yes style break in the albums first song, The Outsider, announce something is different in this album: keyboard player Derek Sherinian is going to be much more up front.

Glenn Hughes has called this a darker album, and while his songs are definitively edgier and grittier, his singing is more paced. Less an effort to sing hard rock, and more just doing it. Together with Bonham the rhythm section is as tight as the first album. What these two would sound like together if they had spent the last ten months touring together, instead of touring apart, it is frightening to wonder. It is Joe Bonamassa once again, however, that shines. The virtuoso guitar player provides great licks, tasty guitar lines and Paul Rogers-esque vocals. His acoustic showpiece, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, is the albums highlight.

But the album is full of highlights: Save Me, rescued from Bonham’s 2008 sessions with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; Faithless, dark and mysterious sounding, so hard to not listen to again and again; Man in the Middle, BCC at their hardest; An Ordinary Son, Joe Bonamassa’s brilliant other showcase song; Cold, Glenn Hughes finest moment in his Black Country Communion suit.

With Faithless, Cold, Little Secret and, too a lesser degree, The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall, BCC2 has it’s share of slower or softer songs. Yet it is still by any definition, a very hard album, with a gritty edge they only let drop on Hadrian’s Wall.

Black Country Communion 2 is a solid album from beginning to end, with no unlistenable music or weak songs. Hughes and Bonamassa are in good voice, and the four very talented musicians are solid and tight. It may not quite be 70’s rock, but it’s the closest thing you’ll hear these days by a large margin.

Black Country Communion 2

1. The Outsider (Hughes, Bonamassa, Sherinian, Shirley): 4:23


2. Man in the Middle (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 4:35


3. The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall (Bonamassa, Hughes, Shirley): 5:11


4. Save Me (Bonham, Hughes, Bonamassa, Sherinian, Shirley): 7:42


5. Smokestack Woman (Hughes): 5:10


6. Faithless (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 5:10


7. An Ordinary Son (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 7:59


8. I Can See Your Spirit (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 4:11


9. Little Secret (Hughes): 6:59


10. Crossfire (Hughes): 6:03


11. Cold (Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley): 6:55

Black Country Communion 2 is set for release on June 14th (June 13th in Britain)

Get The Candles Out

Carol Miller's syndicated radio show, Get the Led Out, will do a special feature on Memorial Day celebrating John Bonham's birthday.

The special will feature interviews with Simon Kirke (Bad Company), Alan White (Yes), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Country Communion) and Jason Bonham. As well, it will rebroadcast UK and US newscasts on  the death of John Bonham in 1980.

The show will air on affiliate stations during the week of May 23rd to 29. John Bonham would have turned 63 on May 31st.

Free Black Country Communion Download

Black Country Communion has made a song from their upcoming release, Black Country Communion 2, available for free download. The Outsider is the opening track on the new album, BCC2, available in stores  June 14th (June 13th in Britain).

The Outsider is a hard rockin' song reminiscent of Black Country, which opened the Anglo-American band's first album. While it carries a Black Country like groove, however, it has a short smokin' guitar solo and Derek Sherinian runs some very tasty, Keith Emerson like keyboard work.

Previously, Glenn Hughes performed an acoustic version of Cold.

BCC 2 Acoustic Premier

Bassist and singer Glenn Hughes premiered the new Black Country Communion album, 2, by releasing a video of himself playing an acoustic version of the song Cold.

Glenn Hughes Supports Japan

Black Country Communion bassist and singer, Glenn Hughes, has recorded a song on behalf of Artists Support Japan.

Artists Support Japan is a charity began by former Guns 'N' Roses manager Alan Niven.

The idea, which began with Graham Thomas, an old friend and former CEO of Saatchi And Saatchi, is for artists to record an acoustic song with an i-Phone or whatever, something immediate and real and of the moment, and attach a message of support.

“We’ll put them on our YouTube and Facebook sites, and the fans get to see fresh and unusual performances. We’ll go to businesses and ask them to donate to the fund. If Sandra Bullock can give a million then perhaps we can find a company to make a meaningful donation, in return for site sponsorship. Individuals will also be able to donate personally

Review: Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl

Joe Bonamassa is first and foremost a blues guitarist. He toured with Buddy Guy when he was 12. He has played with BB King and Eric Clapton. The blues is his milieu. Dust Bowl, Bonamassa’s 9th solo album and his sixth with Kevin Shirley producing was recorded in Greece, Nashville, Malibu and Los Angeles. It is a blues album through and through, although at first blush it may not seem so.

In sixty-three minutes, Dust Bowl rolls through twelve songs that range in styles from country to Stevie Ray Vaughan boogie, bluegrass tinged rock to pop, without ever leaving the blues influence behind. And throughout Bonamassa’s virtuosity shines through.

Beginning with the sound of a train leaving the station, Slow Train is a slow hard blues, the band driving a great groove, Bonamassa ripping through cool blues licks. Leading into the title track, another slow tempoed but hard driving song, Dust Bowl is punctuated by a laid back western guitar lick.

Bonamassa’s singing is excellent throughout the album, as is his song writing. There are, none the less, three tracks with a guest singer and the third song Tennessee Plates is the first. John Hiatt shares the singing duties on the up-tempo country track, while Vince Gill fills the song with hot country guitar licks. Gill also plays and sings on the country boogie song Sweet Rowena. The guests are filled out by Bonamassa’s Black Country Communion band-mate Glenn Hughes, who co-sings the Free song, Paul Rodgers’ Heartbreaker.

But it is the Bonamassa songs that really shine. The mandolin led Black Lung Heartache, the Spanish infused slow blues The Last Matador of Bayonne, or the dirty sounding The Whale that Swallowed Jonah. Bonamassa is a storyteller, weaving tales in his writing that enhance his songs but don’t overshadow his strong band or his flawless guitar playing.

You Better Watch Yourself is a Stevie Ray Vaughan shuffle that at first hearing was intimately familiar. My first thought was that it was one of the standards, something Vaughan or Eric Clapton have covered previously. It is, however, a Bonamassa original and the albums best song. Beginning with Bonamassa riding his wah-wah pedal with a Hendrix like riff, he keeps on the pedal throughout and gives a performance that is so Stevie Ray like it seems a sure thing it was played on a Stratocaster.

The album ends on a surprising note, the Karen Lawrence/John Desautels song Prisoner. Formerly known as the Love Theme from “The Eye’s of Laura Mars” (prisoner), Bonamassa and producer Kevin Shirley take the Barbara Streisand ballad and turn it into a slow, sultry blues. It is what Jimmy Page’s Prisoner’s Blues aimed to be, but failed.

If you’re a blues rock fan waiting it out until June for Black Country Communion to release their 2nd album, Joe Bonamassa’s Dust Bowl is a must have album. It is a showcase of the blues in it’s many variants by one of it’s most prolific and virtuosic performers.



*********************************************

Track Listing

1. Slow Train


2. Dust Bowl


3. Tennessee Plates


4. The Meaning of the Blues


5. Black Lung Heartache


6. You Better Watch Yourself


7. The Last Matador of Bayonne


8. Heartbreaker


9. No Love on the Street


10. The Whale That Swallowed Jonah


11. Sweet Rowena


12. Prisoner

Black Country Communion 2 Complete

Mastered and ready for June release, Black Country Communion’s 2nd album, BCC2, is longer, harder and darker, according to singer and bassist Glenn Hughes.

[caption id="attachment_975" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Photo used by permission"][/caption]

“BCC 2 70 mins. Long. A Rock ‘n Roll Rollercoaster… organic… darker than “1”… my darkest lyrics since Addiction,” said Hughes via Facebook. (Addiction was Hughes 5th solo album. Released in 1996 it is the album that is regarded as his heaviest, both musically and lyrically. Many of the songs focus on Hughes drug addiction that he experienced through the 1980’s).

On Thursday, Hughes mentioned he had a mastered CD in hand. This comes after commenting that “BCC has given me a new belief in Rock ‘n Roll…” And yesterday (Friday Feb 25), Hughes comments that:

Joe Rocks [sic] harder than ever… and I get to sing some desperate blues… this album has woken the Rock

Hughes is not the only one excited about BCC 2. Kevin Shirley is reported to have said it’s the “best album of his career.” The Caveman, Kevin Shirley, has himself said on Facebook, “…it’s sounding awesome. Anyone ready for some big Bonham drums.”

Desperate blues, Joe Bonamassa rocking hard and big Bonham drums. Sounds like BCC2 is an album to look forward too.

Leaving behind recording, Black Country Communion announced their first two North American shows this week. BCC will perform two shows in California before beginning their European tour in June, appearing in San Diego June 9th and Anaheim June 10th. More shows will be announced.

BCC2 Smokin' Hot?

Glenn Hughes was heading to Producer Kevin Shirley, aka The Caveman's, studio to record vocals for the last two songs of Black Country Communion's second album. Upon arriving at "The Cave", Shirley discovered a fire:

I opened up to thick acrid smoke and a sideboard aflame. Miraculously, there were no guitars lost, no masters affected and the studio is smelly but otherwise OK.

Hughes finished his vocals, reporting via Facebook, "all vocals are now done... what a crazy day" He has previously said of BBC2 it is his "proudest musical moment," and "it has been a wonderful experience." On Kevin Shirley, Hughes said he is the "best producer I have ever worked with."

BBC2, which is so hot it fried a soundboard, is due for release in June.

BCC II Video

Black Country Communion has released video footage of the band recording Black Country Communion II, an album that Glenn Hughes referred to earlier this week as, "my proudest musical moment."

UK Dates for Black Country Communion

Black Country Communion announced four UK shows following their appearance at London’s High Voltage Festival this July. The Festival, held at historic Victoria Park, takes place the weekend of July 23 & 24, 2011.

The new shows are:

• Tuesday 26th July - Leeds O2 Academy


• Wednesday 27th July - Newcastle O2 Academy


• Friday 29th July - Glasgow O2 Academy


• Saturday 30th July - Manchester Academy

The UK appearances follow a seven show tour of Germany from June 30 - July 14.

• 30th June Stuttgart, Germany


• 1st July Frankfurt, Germany


• 2nd July Leipzig, Germany


• 4th July Munich, Germany


• 5th July Berlin, Germany


• 6th July Hamburg, Germany


• 14th July Bonn, Germany

Tickets for the UK shows go on sale Friday Feb 4. There is a presale for 02 priority customers Feb 2.

Tickets are available through 24 hour box office at 0871 230 1101 or online at See Tickets or The Gig Cartel

Tickets are also available tat the individual locations:

LEEDS O2 ACADEMY

Tuesday 26th July 2011

Tickets: £40.00 Standing £45.00 Seated

Box Office: 0871 230 1101
 www.o2academyleeds.co.uk
55 Cookridge Street, Leeds, LS2 3AW

NEWCASTLE O2 ACADEMY

Wednesday 27th July 2011 

Tickets: £40.00

Box Office: 0871 230 1101
 www.o2academynewcastle.co.uk Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 1SW

GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY

Friday 29th July 2011 

Tickets: £40.00 Standing £45.00 Seated

Box Office: 0871 230 1101
 www.o2academyglasgow.co.uk
121 Eglinton Street, Glasgow, G5 9NT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY

Saturday 30th July 2011 

Tickets: £40.00

Box Office: 0871 230 1101
 www.manchesteracademy.net
Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PR

BCC Tour Dates

According to Tight But Loose, Black Country Communion has scheduled some summer tour dates in Germany.

• 30th June Stuttgart, Germany


• 01st July Frankfurt, Germany


• 02nd July Leipzig, Germany


• 04th July Munich, Germany


• 05th July Berlin, Germany


• 06th July Hamburg, Germany


• 14th July Bonn, Germany

Meanwhile, Black Country Communion have begun recording their second album, BCC2. According to Glenn Hughes:

We recorded our first new BCC 2 song 2day...it F------ Rocks...play it loud...GH

Black Country Come-June-ion

Glenn Hughes announced via Facebook and Twitter that Black Country Communion's second album, BCC2 will be released in June to coincide with a summer tour.

Black Country Communion is currently doing pre-production for BCC2, and are expected to go into the studio by the end of the month.

In a throwback to the 1970's, when bands produced albums yearly or more, BCC2 will be the supergroup's second album in less than a year. BCC's 1st album was released last September to favourable reviews. The band just finished two performances in England over the Christmas break, which were also strongly received.

Black Country Communion Rock Wolverhampton

Black Country Communion stepped on the stage in Wolverhampton tonight, playing their entire debut album plus classic tracks from Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Joe Bonamassa according to Nightwatcher's House of Rock and The Voice of Glenn Hughes.

On top of the songs from the album they played Led Zeppelin's <em>No Quarter</em> Deep Purple's <em>Burn</em> and Joe Bonamassa's <em>The Ballad of John Henry</em>.



Love that Jason Bonham bass drum and Bonamassa's painted amps.