Provogue [Release Date : 01.03.24]
Walter Trout’s ‘Broken’ is an apt metaphor for a reflective, philosophical and at times groundbreaking album, which ultimately celebrates life through the sheer joy of making music.
A stylistically varied set is topped and tailed by ‘Broken’ and ‘Falls Apart’, arguably two career highlights. And if both songs appear to send out a pessimistic titular message in contrast to the self affirmative qualities of the album as a whole, he’s smart enough to counterweight the thematic duality with thoughtful sequencing that facilitates an essential flow
In other words, there’s much to digest and plenty of great music to enjoy.
For example, the title track with Beth Hart (one of 3 co-writes with Marie Trout), the blistering boogie ‘Bleed’ with explosive harp player Will Wilde, and the self explanatory ‘Courage In The Dark’ finds him searching for hope and optimism.
By contrast, the Dylanesque ‘No Magic (In The Street)’, the gut busting ‘I’ve Had Enough’- a rollicking duet with Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider – and the magisterial bookend ‘Falls Apart’ suggest he’s still weighting up his options.
‘Broken’ is an album that mirrors a 30 plus album recording career in which he’s never been afraid of digging deep for answers.
‘Broken’ may not quite have the immediate thrust and unity of his previous release ‘Ride’, simply because as a creative force he never stands still. He searches the nooks and crannies of his psyche to illuminate what he finds in 12 highly original songs.
It’s album that deals more with the minutiae of things as evidenced by the contrasting vocal attacks and guitar tones. It’s all framed by Eric Corne’s judicious production which serves the contemplative nature of the album by focussing on the textures and meditative lyrics, rather than simply cranking up the solos.
Trout’s own dichotomous approach is also found in the T. Bear penned, country tinged ‘Breathe’, which cleverly offsets any Nashvillepretensions with some biting lyrics, best exemplified by the line: “It’s never front page news, when you got holes in both your shoes.”
Special guests Beth Hart, Will Wilde and Dee Snider provide a stylistic backbone to the album, rather than merely selling the sizzle, while Walter’s ripping solos and his groove laden band take care of business.
‘Broken’ the opening anthemic duet with Beth Hart, provides an overarching theme which reaches back to the sensibilities of Trout’s ‘Common Ground’ album for its healing properties.
Together they generate a tidal wave of emotion. The song demands the very best of two artists whose careers share an unwanted parallel of demons in the past. This gives the “Broken” theme an extra resonance which they push to breaking point.
The opening drone and mandolin sounding acoustic of ‘Turn And Walk Away’ is cemented by Michael Leasure’s sludgy military style drum beat, which gives it a Zeppelin feel. A harmony heavy hook flows into a typical intense Trout solo – all nimble notes and big tone – followed by a second ascending solo that washes over the track mellifluously.
But it’s not until the explosive single ‘Bleed’ that he really lights the fuse, locking horns with the explosive harp player Will Wilde, on a pile driving boogie which is a rallying call to overcome emotional adversity.
The laid back funky groove of ‘Courage In the Dark’ is a sister track to ‘Ordinary Madness’, and finds Trout digging deep for resilience: “We all need some understanding, we all need someone to care, we don’t want to be lonely, and we all need somebody there.”
And as the track flows intuitively into the line; “Then it’s easy to be shattered by one insensitive remark, we all need a just little courage, a little courage in the dark,” he let’s his guitar do the talking with an eloquent solo, flanked by Teddy Andreadis on a Doors style Wurlitzer motif.
Trout extends the Doors influence by using a Robbie Krieger style electric sitar on the contemplative ‘Talking To Myself’, a track that could have come from Trout’s early career ‘Breaking The Rules’ album.
His wide range of vocal styles leads him to a Dylan style story telling mode on the gutsy and autobiographical ‘No Magic (In The Street’).
His fiery solo amplifies his own hard hitting lyrics: “These days to be a hero, you just got to stay alive, make it through the madness, and merely survive.”
He then gets reflective as both guitar and harp coalesce to give the lyrics extra bite: “All the locals I know, now there dead and gone, but I’m out here and I’m movin’ on. Well I got a nasty feeling I can’t ignore, well there ain’t no magic on the street anymore.”
Trout is in his element as Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider pushes him to the limit on the rip-roaring ‘I’ve Had Enough’, though a mushy intro almost robs the track of its rampant energy.
Snider tears into the second verse without a safety net and the contrast between Trout’s animated vocal husk and Snider’s flinty timbre leaves Trout enough room for a scorching solo, climaxed by a Snider’s gut busting howl and manic laughter on the outro.
The following ‘Love Of My Life’ is an instrumental guitar piece from another planet. It’s full of pedal harp, a string arrangement, a sinewy guitar tone and a cool Fender Rhodes solo, which gives the number a filmic feel.
He also surprises us with ‘Heaven And Hell’ a philosophical rapped out rocker on which the tension is resolved with a piercing solo and subsequent seal sounds. This all serves to underpin a hard hitting message; “We get what we deserve.”
There’s still time for a love song ‘I Wanna Stay’, on which he employs an upper register vocal to nail heartfelt emotion.
He saves his best for last on ‘Falls Apart’, a remarkable track written and arranged by Biscuit Brændgård.
In line with the rest of the album it’s built on a dichotomous foundation, as the rich harmonies, Eastern sounding Omnichord, and big Beatles style vocal block are in sharp contrast to the terse dark lyrics.
Trout’s final weeping solo combines with a big accapella finish to perfectly bookend an adventurous album.
In sum, ‘Broken’ draws on every facet of the Trout musical oeuvre and he glues everything together with vocal versatility, inspired solos and intuitive band interplay on well crafted songs. Game, set and match. ****
Review by Pete Feenstra
Feature (The Grotto of Greatness, May 2023)
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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024
ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)
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