Anyone who has seen Buddy Guy over the last ten years or so will have
seen Scott Holt working hard as his backup guitar and sideman. Overall
every time I saw Buddy Guy, I was more impressed with Scott Holt and his
playing, than Buddy Guy.
This CD is Scott's second solo effort and it definitely rocks, much more
than his previous release, which was excellent also. I would describe
this music as solid blues/rock that will definitely get the house going
in any club where he might play. Scott wrote or co-wrote eight of the
twelve tunes on this disk and the original songs are high quality and
mix well with the songs by others.
'Too Far Gone' is a solid Texas Blues style shuffle that fans of Kenny
Wayne Shepherd or Stevie Ray Vaughan should love. 'Dress You Up' is an
interesting song, changing from a light almost laid back verse to a
heavy rocking distorted chorus with some really heavy guitar work. You
could almost put an alternative rock label on this song. 'The
Unforgiven' is another heavy rocker that would work great in any club
setting. 'I'll Make Love To You Anytime' is a J.J Cale song that gets a
workout by Scott. This is a great version of this song, with lots of
great guitar work. 'Up In Flames' starts out slow and low and builds to
a heavy rocking chorus. There is some pretty good dynamics on this CD
which help accent the songs. It adds to the experience. Nothing is more
boring than a CD which has the same volume levels throughout.'Spanish
Moon' is driven by some funky wah-wah based rhythms, keyboards and horn
work. This is a pretty cool song which is definitely different than the
rest of the CD. 'I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living' is one of those
smoky slow blues songs. The style leans more towards slinky rather than
grinding blues that one might expect. This traditional song is done in a
very tasty manner. Portions of it remind me a bit of Gary Moore's blues
playing. 'Blind Willie McTell' is a Bob Dylan song. I guess it goes
without saying that the vocals are better than Dylan could ever do. This
song is done with plenty of feeling and works well. Most every song on
this CD is very good to excellent.
If you like guitar based blues/rock music, then you should really like
this CD. The music and vocals are excellent. I think this is one
kick-assed CD with lots of great guitar work and dynamics. Bottom Line:
I give it four stars and this will be going into my personal CD
collection. Go out and buy this CD!!!
Web Site - www.bluestormmusic.com
Scott Holt - All Guitars & Vocals
Geno Haffner - Keyboards
Tom Larson - Drums, Percussion
Keith Kenyon - Bass
Murf
e-mail murf01@bellsouth.net
http://personal.mco.bellsouth.net/~murf01/
This review is copyright © 2001 by Robert Murphy, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.