Sonny Landreth is an amazing slide guitarist who has a completely distinctive style that couldn't be any one else. Unfortunately the downside of such distinctiveness is that it can also be a bit samey. I've found his last two CDs a bit samey and was hoping that this CD with its all-star guests could bring something new to his sound. However, I don't think that it does.
For me the overall feel of the CD is too much like all Sonny's other records, there are no new sounds or rhythms and many of the songs sound like tracks he's recorded previously. The guests actually make minimal contributions and the album would have sounded more or less the same if there had been no guests at all. In truth the mix on Sonny's records is too full for another guitarist, and his own guitar sound is so 'massive' that the guest guitarists are reduced to the odd few bars of solos and a bit of noodling around in the background before Sonny steams in again.
'When I Still Had You' with Clapton is probably my favourite track, with Clapton contributing a nice, short solo. Clapton's other track 'Storm Of Worry' is OK as is 'Way Past Long' with Robben Ford but I wasn't convinced by the Hurricane Katrina song 'Blue Tarp Blues' with Mark Knopfler. 'Howlin moon' with Dr. John helping out on keyboards is also a good track which sounds different in that it has a bit more space in the mix for the keyboards.
Sonny contributes some fantastic slide playing but I would say if you already have Outward Bound or Levee Town you don't really need this. Overall I also found the album a bit bland and almost 'pop'-sounding I'd like to hear him doing something with a bit more guts, with some good classic blues songs rather than relying too much on his own songs. Two and a half stars...
