Pete chats to Neil Sadler for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio on Sunday 4 August, 20:00 GMT
No Machine West [Release date : 01.07.24]
Neil Sadler’s ‘Past To Present’ is a guitar friendly rock-blues compilation album which draws on old and newer material with some re-jigged lyrics.
His songs drip with luscious tones framed by imposing sonic landscapes and are shot through with a reflective feel.
The album is an extension of the man himself, who for 30 years was a multi-instrumentalist and studio owner and whose production work informed some of Larry Miller’s best work.
His guitar playing also brought flair, substance and feel to the likes of Blue Touch, The UK Blues Project and a solo project with Dennis Siggery, on ‘Past To Present’ it is the central driving force. It also frequently occupies the role of a second voice to fill out an number of story telling narratives, an instrumental and autobiographical songs.
The latter provides him with the deeply moving album highlight ‘I Ain’t Gonna Cross No River’.
It’s a meeting of song-craft, musical excellence and a fine production, on which he resolves to fight with his partner to beat their respective cancer problems.
It also provides the outright song quality to match his enveloping soundscapes.
A combination of piercing guitar notes and emotive phrasing helps him get inside some heart wrenching lyrics: “I’m not ready for the night to fall, darkness all around, I’m just not ready, I ain’t crossing to the other side, its come too soon, you know I’m just not ready.”
This leads into the self affirmative chorus: I ain’t gonna cross no river, I don’t want to see you cry, got to get me a lot of living, baby before I die.”
On ‘By The End of The Night’, he switches to a more dirgey drone riff led approach to musically evoke the grip of the blues: “I got the blues its like a deep dark hole,” to which he adds defining line: “by the end of the night you’re gonna know my name.”
It’s another example of how his solo attack and different tones draw us into lyrical emotions.
Not everything works quite as well. Despite being bathed in shimmering tones and topped by a sumptuous slide leading to an emotive volley of big toned notes, the vocal on ‘No Love Left, No More’ lacks sufficient light and shade to make an emotional connection with the lyrics.
No matter; Sadler’s musical versatility makes ‘Past To Present’ a fine rock-blues album which balances subtlety with bluster.
He adventurously veers from atmospheric rock-blues towards some anthemic moments, full of wide ranging tones in a locked-in layered production.
The broken relationship song ‘You Ain’t Gonna Get Me Next Time’, opens with echo laden dobro, brush stroke percussion and a contrasting shrill guitar tone.
The autobiographical ‘A Bad Case of Company Blues’ gives him room to pair acoustic and electric guitar with a gritty vocal, on a bluesy stomp which recalls the end of his rock and roll dream and settling for a day job.
‘Past To Present’ has an essential flow which is built on a willingness to experiment with sounds and arrangements which give the album a vibrant feel.
When you listen to the dobro and slide inflected stomping beat and catchy hook of the celebratory ‘Let Your Hair Down, Honey’, or indeed the grainy toned ZZ Top style intensity and pulverising drums of ‘40 Miles of Bad Road’, you can feel the essential energy of the album.
He goes back to his Blue Touch days for a layered version of ‘When The Levee Breaks’, which relies on subtle dynamics rather than a sledgehammer approach.
The flinty lyrics of ‘What Goes Round Comes Around’ builds from an acoustic intro via distorted drums and psychedelic squalls into another atmospheric track.
Sadler’s forte is the way he seamlessly fuses things together to explore changes in mood and feel within a song which he then presents as a coherent whole.
Even on the more prosaic riff driven ‘Feel Like A Wolf’ he pulls out something different. He combines a Howlin’ Wolf vocal snarl with two contrasting solos, the second of which is a searing solo with a rich tone, leading to a distant howl on the outro.
The closing instrumental ‘No Rush’, owes much to Gary Moore in terms of tone and arrangement, but the feel is wholly Sadler’s own.
His cleverly switches from a clean to a slighty distorted tone on a melodic blues instrumental. His subtle use of vibrato with an effortless touch and tone helps make an emotional connection with the song.
Whether the title is a Zen like declaration or simply inviting us to smell the roses, only Neil will know. He leaves us to make our own choices.
What is self evident is that his heartfelt singing, fluid guitar playing, interwoven tones and honest song-writing is an admirable representation of what makes a very good rock-blues album.****
Review by Pete Feenstra
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