Album review: PAT TRAVERS – The Art Of Time Travel

David Randall chatted to Pat Travers in December 2022. This non-broadcast extract is from a longer interview (see below).

In an hour special for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio Pat Travers chatted about his career with tracks from several albums including ‘The Art Of Time Travel’. First broadcast 25 December 2022.

Cleopatra Records [Release date 19.08.22]

Back in the day I bought Pat Travers early solo albums and saw him live at the peak of his powers in 1977. Since that time Travers has been seemingly edged out by other guitar slinger wannabees and even in the blues rock breakthrough of the early 1990s he failed to reclaim his earlier impact. Many releases in his discography are actually live or covers albums.

The title track of this latest outing is somewhat autobiographical and telling “Try to relive the past/Wish I’d done stuff different/Then beat myself up all day long”

The title of one of Travers’ previous albums ‘School Of Hard Knocks’ still seems appropriate but out of frustration can come good stuff. And Travers has certainly not lost his mettle.

While his previous Cleopatra outing ‘Swing!’ celebrated 40s and 50s big band classics the latest album is very much a return to his classic late 1970s rock style that we all got hooked on. That title track is a great opener but ‘Ronnie’ a tribute to his friend and mentor Ronnie Montrose) and ‘No Worries At All’ follow the same timeline.

The use of female backing vocalists (his wife Monica and daughter Amanda) is a real asset whilst his band (David Pastorius, bass and Alex Petrosky drums) also impress. And on ‘Push Yourself’ it all comes togther with the use of a brass section. There are a couple of great instrumentals too, the swinging and funky ‘Full Spectrum’ and the Pastorius-penned ‘Natalie’.

Travers’ last “rocky” album was ‘Retro Rocker’ and reviewing in 2015 I hoped for a “volume two”. Well I’ve found it. Lapsed Travers fans, check this out. ****1/2

Review by David Randall

Album review (Retro Rocket, 2015 )

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 24 November 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)