Joe Bonamassa - Royal Tea

cj73

Whenever I see these threads I'm always reminded of an interview with him in a mag about 9 years ago, might have been Classic Rock.  In it he set out a very business orientated approach that he was pursuing including looks, image and album output.  It seemed very robotic and clinical at the time, evermore so now. 

Strat54

The above is true and as a business plan the goal has been achieved. It is clinical and horribly calculated and from his recent interviews it seems this has come at the cost of his personal life and well-being. 

springhead

He overplays, but then he knows he does.  He says that's what his fans expect of him so he gives them what they want.  I saw him live once and it was a blues widdle-fest that I don't feel the need to see again.  I prefer it when he plays less, and to the song.  For me the "Don't Explain" album is his best work for that reason.  And of course it's all covers of good songs, and Beth's singing...

TINMAN82

I’m surprised he gets such a hard time (then again mabye not these days). I listen to a fair bit of blues/ blues rock and I don’t hear many modern acts that bring lots of new ideas to the genre. This stuff gets discussed on tfb frequently.

I agree JoBo delivers more as a live act than from records. I find his live work very compelling though...he’s a virtuoso player.  Have to say that for all the plaudits Kirk Fletcher and Josh Smith get in forums and magazines (great players, rightly so) they’re original songs are no more inspiring. I get that many don’t like the image and “product” but have yet to hear many recommendations for musically superior alternatives within the genre. Tough crowd.

Loobs

The genre is inherently boring...it's about showboating on the guitar. People into inventive music don't listen to blues rock. 

Skipped

I really like him. But the song  from the new album (posted above) is dire. It is instantly forgettable. And the rest of the album seems to be no better.

My comment on the Kenny Wayne Shepherd thread was not intended to be amusing. The song posted there was not written with the Grammy Awards in mind. It was Southern Rock with a cheesy hook. A cheesy anthem that I found myself singing just a few minutes later. The comment was made very much with Joe Bonamassa in mind.

Joe. The Cheesy Hook Universe is right outside your freaking front door. Just sayin......

Nerine

I believe there was a comment earlier in the thread about this album being overly compressed and badly mixed. It really isn’t either of those things. 

The drum sounds are good throughout, although I hear potentially a bit of Lexicon PCM style reverb on the snare on the first few tracks that I’m not a massive fan of in this context, although it could be how the room sound has been processed. That said, it isn’t badly mixed. Nor is it overly compressed either. It sounds like a natural record to me. Of course there IS compression on it; all records have it to some degree, but it hasn’t been overused. The songs aren’t a pumping mess. 

As has been said, it’s a really difficult genre to be original in. Blues progressions and turnarounds and structures are kind of what makes the blues the blues. A lot of it has absolutely been done to death, so claiming that it isn’t inventive is kind of a moot point because I’m not really sure that anyone has brought anything new to it for years. 

Don’t get me wrong, Royal Tea isn’t my favourite album or anything. Far from it. I just thought it was a little bit different for Joe, with there being some slightly heavier riffs in places etc and I enjoyed that aspect of it. The standard blues/12 bar progressions I find boring regardless of who is playing them most of the time. 

johnhe

I have lots of Joes albums. Redemption was one of my favourites, although none have equalled “good day yesterday” in my opinion. But I’m reluctant to even listen to this one, since it seems to be getting such bad reviews. Having said that, if some of the comments above are from guys who hate most modern blues, then those opinions obviously don’t have much relevance to me (who loves that genre).

soma1975

Black Crowes is southern Rock. Allmans are southern rock. That KWS was bro country rock shite. 

soma1975

Nerine said:

Don’t get me wrong, Royal Tea isn’t my favourite album or anything. Far from it. I just thought it was a little bit different for Joe, with there being some slightly heavier riffs in places etc and I enjoyed that aspect of it. The standard blues/12 bar progressions I find boring regardless of who is playing them most of the time. 

How I think the production meeting went discussing the last album..

skullfunkerry

springhead said:

He overplays, but then he knows he does.  He says that's what his fans expect of him so he gives them what they want.  I saw him live once and it was a blues widdle-fest that I don't feel the need to see again.  I prefer it when he plays less, and to the song.  For me the "Don't Explain" album is his best work for that reason.  And of course it's all covers of good songs, and Beth's singing...

He does seem pretty self-aware: I read an interview with him when he did the first Black Country Communion album and he said something along the lines of "I'm doing fast pentatonic solos and big power chords... basically all the things people complain about when I play the blues"

guitarcookie1

I normally like JB’s albums but this one.. no.. Got four songs in and had to turn it off, not for me. 

Strat54

From Guitar mag website: As for album 46? Despite the pandemic, it seems that the whole idea of writing albums dedicated to iconic cities and sounds has lit something of a fire under Joe…

“Assuming it comes off given everything that’s going on, we have studio time booked in New York City in January next year,” he explains. “There’s a whole bunch of songs that didn’t make this record purely because they didn’t sound British enough – they’re actually really good songs, they just wouldn’t fit this record, and would have sounded out of place.

“So we’re going to revisit those and write some new stuff for a record we’ll record in New York, and my concept is ‘’subway rigs’. So that’s no cartage, no road cases, just do what I used to do 20 years ago – a gigbag, with a Strat or a Les Paul, and a brown Deluxe or a Deluxe Reverb, and you go with what you’ve got! Making a record like that really tests the songs – when your palette of instruments isn’t infinite!”

Octahedron

I haven't listened yet. Actually, I've ordered the CD and it's not here yet. Had trouble getting stock out here in Australia. I tend to not listen to stuff on streaming platforms.

I for one don't share the gripes everyone has with Kevin Shirley mixes but each to their own. The problem I have is Joe's tone. It's wank IMHO. 

He has all those stunning guitars from a bygone era, worth all that coin, and he can't make it sound good? 

Also his voice is weird.

My favourite things he's done are Black Country Communion, the Beth Hart collab albums and also Mahalia Barnes. Don't care for Rock Candy Funk Party or The Sleep Eazys or whatever that new thing he did was.

Barnezy

I've never really understood the fascination with Joe. To me his playing is just another faux-blues, played by the least cool person on the planet. A guy playing blues on a $300k LP does make me laugh.

victorludorum

Does anyone think that the 2 songs posted on here sound British in any way?

andy_k

Joe is just being prolific, and is continually looking for new ideas. At the same time he knows he has a core audience to please, at least he is out there doing it.
We all envy his collection ( maybe secretly), but I think he is really creating a future museum to the guitar, and that is worthy of some praise.
I think his output peaked for me at 'Black Rock', which I think was his first with Kev Shirley, and was something of a greek concept album, I think it is a great record, and only a few of his later tracks match it.
I saw him on the BBE tour, and that was an amazing show too, he definitely can do the songs justice. 

TINMAN82

Barnezy said:

A guy playing blues on a $300k LP does make me laugh.

Because blues as a genre isn’t worthy of an expensive vintage guitar? Is Kirk Hammet playing thrash metal on Greeny more deserving? Some chill required methinks.

skullfunkerry

For everyone saying that they don’t like his voice/think it sounds weird/whatever: did you ever hear his show on Planet Rock radio? I genuinely thought it was Kermit the Frog the first time I switched it on

Sassafras

Octahedron said:

I for one don't share the gripes everyone has with Kevin Shirley mixes but each to their own. The problem I have is Joe's tone. It's wank IMHO. 

Isn't the guitar's tone ultimately down to the producer?