Track Listing

1. Never Make Your Move Too Soon
2. Travellin' South
3. Junction 61
4. Reconsider Baby
5. Around the Bend
6. Revenge of the 10 Gallon Hat
7. When She Dances
8. Had to Cry Today
9. River
10. When the Sun Goes Down
11. Faux Mantini

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11248 in Music
• Released on: 2004-08-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.com
Guitar hero Bonamassa may have dropped the "Smokin'" prefix from his performing name that he carried as a teenager, but he still specializes in superheated fret work. And for him, the faster it is, the better. Bonamassa sought to showcase the "heavier side of blues" on his fourth studio recording, emphasizing the approach used by the classic English blues-rockers. And he does just that with a hyperactive "Travellin' South" that Ten Years After would have been proud to claim and a hard-edged remake of the B.B. King hit "Never Make Your Move Too Soon". The title track, a Blind Faith favorite, is transformed into a frenetic live jam while Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby", a staple of Bonamassa's live show, is given an extended workout and features some of his most potent blues licks. Sometimes Bonamassa is in too much of a hurry for his own good, but his penchant for speed works especially well on a couple of instrumentals. He races through "Revenge of the 10 Gallon Hat", a country-flavored tribute to mentor Danny Gatton, and the rapid-fire, Al Di Meola-influenced closer "Faux Mantini." --Michael Point

Customer Reviews

Joe continues to grow!
The guitar gods have graced Mr. Bonamassa with lightning in his fingertips. The former child prodigy delves into blues, soul, rock and country on "Had To Cry Today". Whatever the genre, Joe proves conclusively that he's all over it. "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" and "Reconsider Baby" just freakin sizzle. You take a tight band and a deft mixture of covers and original material and the guitar that roared and you've got yourself a major type listening experience. The scary thing is, Joe's just getting started.

Good album, however a bit disappointing (for me)
I was waiting for the follow-up of Blues Deluxe impatiently, hoping that Joe would have followed the same route: playing the blues. Unfortunately this is not the case. The new one is a sort of hybrid, a lot from his first two albums and just a little bit from his last one, and from my point of view, his best. I wouldn't like to be misunderstood: I love it. However I prefer Joe when he plays straight-ahead blues rather than hard rock-blues. Nevertheless the guitar playing is breath taking and also his singing has improved. It is just a bit too much on the "heavy" side for my taste. I personally believe that instead of looking for speed, or number of notes played in a second, or volume, our hero should start thinking about the emotion you can transmit, and the tension you can create, just not playing a note rather than filling the musical intervals with too many. He is still young and I am still confident that he will be, one day, one of the greatest blues guitar players. Looking forward for the next one, I am afraid that I can rate this album only 4 stars.

Smokin' Joe's best CD to date...
After last years "Blues Deluxe", I wondered in which direction Joe Bonamassa would chose to go with his next CD. "Blues Deluxe" was an excellent set of songs that spun Joe's take on his Blues, and hardly ever left my CD player. It quickly became my favorite CD of last year. Excellent original songs, plus well chosen covers, along with top notch production and musicianship brought together a CD that would be hard to top.

However, on the brand new release "Had To Cry Today", Joe Bonamassa and the band have uped the ante, and have created a wonderful set of classic rock music. Again, sticking to the formula of mixing a few covers, with some excellent original material, Joe stretches his musical muscles here, fusing Blues inspired rock and acoustic blues. Joe's singing is in excellent form here, and much more soulfull and confident than ever.

"Never Make Your Move Too Soon", "Travellin' South", "Reconsider Baby", and the title track in particular "Had To Cry Today", a barnstorming staple of the bands live show, are excellent covers in that familiar blues territory that Joe and the band do so well, yet sounding heavier, more inspired and in your face than ever before.

Joe lets loose on 2 instrumentals here, that not only shows his virtuosity and talent, but also his diversity. Joe's finding more notes out of the air than ever before. "Revenge of the 10 Gallon Hat", is Joe's ode to the late Danny Gatton. Joe country picks with the best of them here, and if you didn't know better, you'd swear it's Mr. Gatton himself. "Faux Mantini" ends the CD, with an explosive display of acoustic guitar playing in the realm of Al DiMeola, that is at once shocking to hear. How can he play that fast, and still be musical?

The standouts on "Had to Cry Today" however are the original songs. Joe's is becoming a very good song writer, and these are his best yet. "The River", and "When the Sun Goes Down", 2 acoustic blues numbers that both start slow and haunting, and then both kick into high gear. "Around the Bend" is a very personal song for Joe, with a sweet sounding acoustic arrangement, and thoughtful lyrics, that builds into one of Joe's most melodic guitar solo's ever. "When She Dances" is a beautifully written ballad, with a slow groove that is infectious. This song should be played on every radio station in North America, and would be a huge hit with the right push and promotion.

"Had to Cry Today" finds Joe Bonamassa at his best, and where he is today as a performer. The band as a whole has never played better, or written better songs. The result is magical.