• From: the Netherlands
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 315

Re: Sloe Gin

eric w wrote:

Hello Annelies and all others.

I am afraid that I am too much a guitar lover to be as enthousiastic about Sloe Gin as you are. Don't blaim me for that, because I can agree a lot with your opinion, but the over-arrangements with all the strings and multiple guitar dubs are a bit too much for me. When Joe reacts on the former recording of Around the bend, he comes back on his vision on the song in that period of his personal growth. I am anxious to hear Joe's  (and all fan's) view on Sloe Gin in a few years.

Fortunately there are the live performances. I have seen Joe in Pistoia Italy do some of the songs such as Sloe Gin and there you see the real Joe of my preference. The live acts go even further with the old Yes and Genesis pieces added to the jams. I really look forward to Paradiso in October to hear more of Sloe Gin in the live versions. After that I hope your information concerning the live album will become reality next year. I want to remember you all the quote Joe and Walter Trout put on the Full Circle album, when they recorded Clouds on the Horizon: "let's give a reason to hate us". That is the kind of Blues (rock) I like most and the reason I love them.

Apart from that, the acoustic recordings are excellent and well produced. For the same reason the live version of Mountain Time keeps coming back as one of my personal Joe's live bests. Also the Ten Years After's song One of these days (one of my first records in the 70's), John Mayall's Another kind of love and Black Night bring back good memories and are very good modern versions, which still carry the atmosphere of the period they were recorded (or maybe re-recorded already :-)).

In all I am happy with the album, especcialy when you look at the time schedule Joe keeps for himself. Allthough it could have been a little less at some points.

Oke, shoot me.
Eric

Hi,

Like it when people show how they feel about certain comments.

I never compare a studio album to a live album or to a previous album or to a live performance it's totally different. I look at it as a whole new experience for myself and for the artist The album as a whole for me is as i said in the starting topic. Saw Joe play 4 times on the Euro-Tour and it's an revelation to see him play live 'cause he plays from the heart and emotion of that moment but also like his studio performances.I like heavy rocky blues too and think that the guitar work on this album is the way that kept this album in balans. On some songs i would [if i was the producer ] done the vocals a bit stronger on some bits of songs but for me the album is as i said before. People are people and their is no counting on tastes , if we all would agree it would be a very dull world.

Annelies


No shooting......... Eric!!!!

  • From: Chicago
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 92

Re: Sloe Gin

Well I got my copy of Slow Gin today in the mail and I have one word for it, brilliant. This should be the album that gets Joe some much deserved attention. Every song is great. I sincerely hope that his management team is going to push hard to get some serious radio play for this gem.
Joe has never made a bad album , not even close, but this one might be the best yet.
Thanks Joe.

21 Reply by danny-o (edited by danny-o 2007-08-24 22:15:07)

  • From: Ashland, MA
  • Registered: 2007-06-13
  • Posts: 20

Re: Sloe Gin

I'm really enjoying this album - it's something different.  The production is really slick, which suits my taste just fine, but I could see how someone who likes a bit of grit (authenticity?) might not be turned on quite as much.

I love the occasional presence of the keys, and the real variation in guitar sounds, and moods too.  Joe's voice works great on most of these numbers.  Read somewhere that the vocals were a big focus on this album, and I think it really shows.

Though I haven't had a chance to learn it through and through, I think Sloe Gin is just a solid piece of work.  It's probably more accessible as a whole than preceding albums - if I had to give a JB album to someone who wasn't necessarily a dyed-in-the-wool blues rock fan I'd give them this one.

Maybe the guitar work doesn't turn your ears inside out or drop your jaw, but we already know that Joe can do that stuff and there's plenty of time for him to do more of it.  For now, it's great to see the maturation from (amazing) guitar-driven solo-heavy pieces to a more balanced musical awareness.

Very well done.

edit: Gonna post this on Amazon.com too. smile

danny-o's Website

22 Reply by Lui

  • Lui
  • Lui
  • Platinum
  • Offline
  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 122

Re: Sloe Gin

Hi!
I just bought my copy: This is *cool*! My favourites for now are Sloe Gin, Ball Peen Hammer, Black Night and Seagull!
I feel very pleased with myself as my mother just came in to inform me that the whole street would by now know the songs. I really ask myself how she comes to expect that to worry me, as it was my aim anyway!
Can't wait to hear the songs live!

Peace and Love!
  • From: Boston
  • Registered: 2006-11-25
  • Posts: 133

Re: Sloe Gin

Hey Guys,
              This album is definitley unique, its very different from other bonamassa stuff.  I've only listened to it a few times through, I'm still waiting for it to settle in, but so far it hasnt really struck me yet becuase its so unexpected from Joe...I guess I dont know how i feel about it yet.  just my two cents.
Peace,
Conner

Fender '62 reissue Stratocaster, 2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio(Stock), Marshall JCM900 100W Head, Original 1972 Carvin 4/12 Cabinet,Ibanez Ts9 Reissue, Keeley Compressor, Boss DD-3 Delay, Vox Wah
  • Registered: 2006-04-25
  • Posts: 128

Re: Sloe Gin

Got our copy of Sloe Gin:  & last night we:

Set up 4 subs & 4 mains and sat on stools in front of them and took it all in:

This in our opinion,  is no doubt your best work !  and we are going to be playing over and over and over and over because there is just nothing else in the music world that compares to your work.

                                                    It is absolutely exquisite, Joe. !!!!!!!

We think this one is going to top the charts and you so deserve it !!!!!!

Sincerely,

Jim & Kathy

25 Reply by dknight16 (edited by dknight16 2007-08-25 14:36:21)

  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 1,996

Re: Sloe Gin

Despite being largely slow tempo, this is an amazing CD.  It seems to have a great common theme and flow throughout.  I thought You And Me seemed a bit disjointed by comparison.  That's not to say I didn't love that CD, but listening to it "old school" (from track 1 to track 11) reveals how much better this one is than that one.

The acoustic backbone of this CD makes it unique.  While I love electric shred stuff as much as the next person, Joe found a way to make this one really interesting to me.  The string and piano sections fill out the sound without ever stepping on the song, or saying "look at me!".  Instrumentally, this CD is just about perfect.

Lastly, Joe's vocals.  I've always enjoyed Joe's voice.  I wouldn't have thought it possible, but it's a huge step forward.  They clearly are the driving force of this record.  That's amazing when you consider what Joe really is . . . a prodigy guitarist.  Now his vocals take a back seat to nothing in his music.  I mean, how many guys in this world can sing Paul Rogers and not come out sounding karaoke?

Outstanding effort Joe.  You'll have your work cut out for you on the next one!

Gibson 60th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Reissue, Gibson LP Standard Faded CSB, Gibson Gary Moore LP Standard, Epi Joe Bonamassa GT LP, Epi Zakk Wylde LP, Dean Michael Schenker Flying V, Jackson Randy Rhoads V, ESP/LTD George Lynch Kamikaze, EVH Striped Series R/B/W, Fender/Squire John 5 Telecaster, Fender Joe Strummer Relic Telecaster
  • Victor
  • Bronze Member
  • Offline
  • From: Area 51
  • Registered: 2007-06-23
  • Posts: 31

Re: Sloe Gin

First of all, I'd like to say I think Joe is in the top 5 greatest guitarists of all time and his first CD is the best Blues Rock CD I've ever heard. Now the bad news. This recent effort doesn't impress me. It has a very commercial sound to it. If you'll notice, a lot of the popular rock groups today don't have guitar solos in their songs either. I will still buy Joe's music though and will definitely go see him because of the first two statements I made.

  • Registered: 2007-02-17
  • Posts: 94

Re: Sloe Gin

I have to say that I'm lovin' it.

I really like it when every album doesn't sound exactly the same as the last. I'm fairly new to Joe's music but I really have enjoyed the last two CDs.

This one has a couple of songs that do have a tiny bit more commercial bent to them. But that can work in Joe's favor and get him on the radio.

In the meantime, even the more commercial sound is still HEAD AND SHOULDERS better than what is out there.

Keep on it and keep makin' music from your heart!!!!

Just helping to spread the word about going to see GOOD bands and GOOD live music as often as possible!!!

Music promotion: http://www.myspace.com/kfdesignpublish
Photo collection: http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l297/peachyllb/
  • Registered: 2006-05-23
  • Posts: 18

Re: Sloe Gin

Victor wrote:

First of all, I'd like to say I think Joe is in the top 5 greatest guitarists of all time and his first CD is the best Blues Rock CD I've ever heard. Now the bad news. This recent effort doesn't impress me. It has a very commercial sound to it. If you'll notice, a lot of the popular rock groups today don't have guitar solos in their songs either. I will still buy Joe's music though and will definitely go see him because of the first two statements I made.

Hi Victor

I think we feel the same way, I still like ANDY as Joe's best, allthough there is some production in there and it was the first time I heard (and saw) Joe. I wouldn't call You and Me and Sloe Gin commercial, they are simply over-produced. But on the other side, once you see Joe live, he uses the basis and framework of the songs to perform them as real raw bluesrock songs. Even the acoustic and melodic songs are so much stronger and with the fulll amount of feeling and emotion in them. That's what makes the difference , especialy held against the so called modern rockbands, where the guitar solo is banned (or nobody is able to perform one).

Go see Joe live in the coming period and you understand what I say. You will hear a totally different Sloe Gin.

Eric

  • From: Chicago
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 92

Re: Sloe Gin

eric w wrote:
Victor wrote:

First of all, I'd like to say I think Joe is in the top 5 greatest guitarists of all time and his first CD is the best Blues Rock CD I've ever heard. Now the bad news. This recent effort doesn't impress me. It has a very commercial sound to it. If you'll notice, a lot of the popular rock groups today don't have guitar solos in their songs either. I will still buy Joe's music though and will definitely go see him because of the first two statements I made.

Hi Victor

I think we feel the same way, I still like ANDY as Joe's best, allthough there is some production in there and it was the first time I heard (and saw) Joe. I wouldn't call You and Me and Sloe Gin commercial, they are simply over-produced. But on the other side, once you see Joe live, he uses the basis and framework of the songs to perform them as real raw bluesrock songs. Even the acoustic and melodic songs are so much stronger and with the fulll amount of feeling and emotion in them. That's what makes the difference , especialy held against the so called modern rockbands, where the guitar solo is banned (or nobody is able to perform one).

Go see Joe live in the coming period and you understand what I say. You will hear a totally different Sloe Gin.

Eric

I have to respectfully disagree with both Victor and Eric. I do not think Sloe Gin is at all over-produced , I think it is a first class production.
I love a fine crafted studio album and that is exactly what Sloe Gin is. As I stated in my previous post in this thread this is the album that might just get Joe some serious radio play. He needs to be heard by a large audience. He is a tremendous talent who is not known by that many people outside of the blues market. This is the album that can get him there, give him a chance to make some big bucks so that he has the freedom to do as he likes in his very bright future.
This is far from a commercial sellout album, this is an album with great songs on it that will please not only the purists but also the casual listener.
I just listened to it for the third time and I absolutely love it. I am a hardcore music fan, have been for over 30 years now, and I know a winner when I hear it.
And by the way, there are plently of excellent guitar solos on this album.

  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 729

Re: Sloe Gin

SoitsLikeThis wrote:
eric w wrote:
Victor wrote:

First of all, I'd like to say I think Joe is in the top 5 greatest guitarists of all time and his first CD is the best Blues Rock CD I've ever heard. Now the bad news. This recent effort doesn't impress me. It has a very commercial sound to it. If you'll notice, a lot of the popular rock groups today don't have guitar solos in their songs either. I will still buy Joe's music though and will definitely go see him because of the first two statements I made.

Hi Victor

I think we feel the same way, I still like ANDY as Joe's best, allthough there is some production in there and it was the first time I heard (and saw) Joe. I wouldn't call You and Me and Sloe Gin commercial, they are simply over-produced. But on the other side, once you see Joe live, he uses the basis and framework of the songs to perform them as real raw bluesrock songs. Even the acoustic and melodic songs are so much stronger and with the fulll amount of feeling and emotion in them. That's what makes the difference , especialy held against the so called modern rockbands, where the guitar solo is banned (or nobody is able to perform one).

Go see Joe live in the coming period and you understand what I say. You will hear a totally different Sloe Gin.

Eric

I have to respectfully disagree with both Victor and Eric. I do not think Sloe Gin is at all over-produced , I think it is a first class production.
I love a fine crafted studio album and that is exactly what Sloe Gin is. As I stated in my previous post in this thread this is the album that might just get Joe some serious radio play. He needs to be heard by a large audience. He is a tremendous talent who is not known by that many people outside of the blues market. This is the album that can get him there, give him a chance to make some big bucks so that he has the freedom to do as he likes in his very bright future.
This is far from a commercial sellout album, this is an album with great songs on it that will please not only the purists but also the casual listener.
I just listened to it for the third time and I absolutely love it. I am a hardcore music fan, have been for over 30 years now, and I know a winner when I hear it.
And by the way, there are plently of excellent guitar solos on this album.

Great post, SoitsLikeThis.  Joe needs widespread acclaim because a) he deserves it, and b) how can we cheat the world of hearing and appreciating such a great talent.  This is why I'm such a Bon-evangelist.  I see all of us like we are in a special little club who figured out how great Mozart or Picasso or Jimi or SRV was before they had widespread acclaim.  I feel a responsibility to spread the word about such greatness, especially when so much of popular culture is a sewer.  People need uplifting and Joe can do it.  More success for him means more freedom to do what he wants musically and not burn himself out with 250 dates a year.  Anyway, that's my take on it.

  • Registered: 2006-05-23
  • Posts: 18

Re: Sloe Gin

Hi all

Great discussion, I love the reactions.

We are all right, simply because music is such a personal thing. What guys like Joe (and Jimi and SRV in former days and don't forget all the great guitarists that we don't mention here) are doing to us, is great. As I stated earlier, the live performances of Joe and band are the best I have ever seen. The way they involve the audience is special. That is my favourite way to see live bands. I like to hear the same thing in my car, home stereo and underway through my MP3 player. The You and Me and Sloe Gin albums are great, Joe covers all blues styles and is still able to give them his own signature, awesom. I just don't like strings in blues songs (around well shaped ladies they are oke though:-)) When you follow Joe's development from ANDY to Sloe Gin, he has always wanted to involve us in his personal feelings and experience with the blues, which is good. We can learn from that. A song like "Know where I belong" brought me back to Jan Akkerman again, one of the greatest who is so easily forgotten. Rory Gallagher, Alvin Lee, Jimmy Page, etc they all get their credits through Joe, wonderful.

The attention from the media and writing press is there, simply by playing as much as Joe and band do, is good for them and for us. BB King is still playing, maybe not as much as he used to do, but he has done more than 250 shows per year for most of his live and it hasn't done the blues anything wrong. At least I was very happy and proud to see him (with Joe opening) last year in Rotterdam the day before his 81th birthday.

I appreciate the way everybody reacts, love you all for that. By talking so open things can only improve. Let's hear you.

Eric

  • Registered: 2007-08-26
  • Posts: 3

Re: Sloe Gin

I think for any artist it's good to have feedback. Also when a good artist composes new material it's usually personal, has to do more with the life of the person writing it than just trying to get a radio hit. We are all stuck with trying to make a living and in music it's hard - especially in these days of very limited quality/originality formula music being shoved down the mainsteam public's throat by big business. So in the end I'm glad Joe was able to put together an album he liked and was representative of his experiences in life. To me the polished production method is just another way of trying to create something cool.

I'm still getting used to the new album, and like the combination of acoustic plus electric, having sort of gone through a similar transition in my own musical life journey. At the same time I have to say that Joe's earlier studio work really blew me away with the cool way that Joe combined a variety of influences to create some really ripping solos. In the absence of many truly great players, and with SRV and others gone, I have sort of come to rely on Joe's playing (along with Satriani and others) for "getting my fix" of new great, raw guitar riffs. Sloe Gin is just another type of album that really did not satisfy me in that way, but the emotional content of the lyrics, plus melodic structures are still satisfying. But when I am on my way to a gig I will still be playing some of the older CDs to get pumped to play live.

Lastly, I am still trying to get a feel for the new backing band, as Joe's previous line up was just so darn tight and dynamic. Hopefully live the new line up is just as tight.

Aloha

  • From: Harrison, Arkansas
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 3,155

Re: Sloe Gin

Hendrix thought there were two different types of playing music: studio and live. In the studio, you focused on creating the best studio work possible. If that meant using a glockenspiel (Little Wing) or a harpsichord (Burning Of The Midnight Lamp) or a kazoo (Crosstown Traffic), he was going to do it. He was going to overlay tons of guitar parts and other effects to do it. He was a studio hound, doing take after take until he got it right. Live was a completely different situation. That was where he got to "jam" to stretch the legs. If Hendrix had been alive today, his records would have seemed very polished, because he sought to create the best studio record possible.

I believe Joe is starting to do the same thing. Live is for being a musician, jamming and improvising, and the studio is for crafting good albums. I'm a fan of this. Let the song rule the day on the album, but stretch it out live.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make"

My ReverbNation page for Dees & Friends - check us out!
www.reverbnation.com/deesfriends
  • From: Deep in the forest
  • Registered: 2007-02-11
  • Posts: 5,296

Re: Sloe Gin

Aloha Hawaii..Very cool!! Now we have Alaska and Hawaii!  And, another guitar player. This CD is what Joe wanted it to be. He's so prolific. I call myself a guitar wh*re because nothing makes me happier than an extended Joe solo. But he's been playing "Burning Hell" and "Blues Deluxe" , for example, for a long time. And he got so much slack from blues snobs.."too loud", "too rock"", well, you know... so my take is this CD is sort of a resume. Like others have said, I can give this CD to a wider range of people than I could ANDYlive. My hope is that we will get a new live DVD with the kick b*tt soloes that brought some of us to the world of Joe.  Cathy

35 Reply by Shredit (edited by Shredit 2007-08-26 22:58:57)

  • Registered: 2006-12-28
  • Posts: 3,742

Re: Sloe Gin

Well it's official, sloe gin just got blasted out of my garage. Working on the cars,  hit the replay button 3 times, hope the neighbors didnt mind.......not that I really care what they think. Guess I torture them once more, gotta sweep the grass off the concrete. .....hey are we gonna get any shirts that will fit "Tyson" ( my dog ) he really likes Joes music......never mind he just got "a time out"

Shred

  • Registered: 2007-08-26
  • Posts: 3

Re: Sloe Gin

HI Cathy, I'm also happy to see so many varied folks that are interested in really good and creative music like Joe's. Yep I agree with you that when you have a set list, no matter how good and fun it is to play, it still can get old playing the same songs over and over. I'm sure that Joe is stoked to have new and different material to play - from what I can tell he tours so much that it must get tiring at times. For me personally I still like a lot of the old material I have played in different bands, and original stuff I've written too, but some of it I would definitely not want to play live over and over any more. In any case, playing and creating music is a journey and if you don't evolve in your playing and style and try different things then you don't grow as a player.

What is amazing to me about Joe's style is that he does a lot of little things that are really technical and challenging in a broad array of musical styles, but yet makes it very lyrical and melodic and full of emotion. He combines sort of old school rock and blues together so well and creates a lot of really memorable riffs and songs  - an original and really great style  - something that is hard to find these days. On top of that, he shares lots of stuff for free via his website, personally responds to folks, and seems like a very cool person overall.

I think this new album is different but still great and like all really good albums, the songs seem to grow on you over time as you listen to them over again. As many people have mentioned on these strings, it's amazing that Joe, or even Bloodline for that matter, never really got much airplay in the US. Just goes to show the power that marketing has on the mainstream. Anything that pushes Joe or other good artists like Warren Haynes out to more people's ears and awareness can only be a good thing.