Into The Blues

Product Details

Artist : Joan Armatrading
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 4011586725528
Label : Hypertension
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2007-04-09

ASIN : B000N0WY0G

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Woman In Love
2. Play The Blues
3. Into The Blues
4. Liza
5. Secular Songs
6. My Baby's Gone
7. DNA
8. Baby Blue Eyes
9. Deep Down
10. There Ain't A Girl Alive
11. Empty Highway
12. Mama Papa
13. Something's Gotta Blow

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

On the surface, yes, this is a blues album; mostly, though, it's a Joan Armatrading album--which means she'll follow blues forms and conceits wherever she damn well pleases. On "Liza," she takes the "Mannish Boy" groove across the tracks for a pick-up on the wrong side of town; on "There Ain't a Girl Alive (Who Likes to Look in the Mirror Like You Do)," she dresses down a rival; on "Play the Blues," she simply undresses herself to a juicy, contemporary soul groove; and on "Mama Papa," the album's finest and funkiest moment, she recalls her youth on the island of St. Kitts in lines that flash with truth: "Seven people in one room/No heat/One wage/And bills to pay." It's also a guitar album: her blues chops, especially on the sprawling closer "Something's Gotta Blow," would give Robert Cray a serious run. Fiery as her playing can be, her blues riffs are mostly economical, concise, with evocative spaces between the notes. The same can't be said for the overall production values. Armatrading is still enamored with slick gimmicks: doubling and tripling her vocals and adding layers of echo on top of that, and synth pads and distortion that feel more bombastic than bright. Into the Blues is far from a return to form, but it still sends a tough, funky message. --Roy Kasten

Description

Joan Armatrading won a 2008 Grammy Nomination for Into the Blue in the "Best Contemporary Blues Album" category.

Customer Reviews

first impressions are that this is not a great album (2008-05-28)

I have been a Joan Armatrading fan for many years therefore I will give this album the benefit of the doubt and give it another go but it lost me around track 7.

grows and grows with every listening (2008-03-04)

What a lovely album, playing it in my studio and it just gets better & better.

Huge disappointment (2007-10-08)

Bought this for my wife who has been a fan for years, and put it on in the car on the way to see JA at the RAH. She turned it off after 30 minutes and said if the concert is like that we would leave early. Production is not very good and her voice is grating at times. As for the blues, well I've never heard it played like that, it must be that she hasn't understood or listened to the blues played by those who are famous for it. I hoped there might be a good cover of an original, but no, all her own work, says it all - self indulgent. Save your money, or if you like a bluesy style try Keb Mo'. E-bay here it comes.

Best album for years (2007-09-03)

Afraid this is going to just be short as I'm short on time but had to pass on the reccomendation. It's a terrific album, maybe the best she has ever done (OK maybe not quite but close) and I've been playing it for months. Highly reccomended another like this please!

A blues album to leave you smiling! (2007-08-23)

Joan Armatrading says, in the sleeve notes of her latest CD, that "I hope you will love listening to these songs with the kind of enjoyment I had making them". Well, Joan, yes I did, very much so! This is the best CD I've heard so far this year. It is simply gorgeous: it is by turns bluesy, jazzy, boppy, mixing fast and slow tempos - all woven together with a dazzling display of vocal and musical virtuosity from Joan, who plays all of the instruments other than drums. Quite simply incredible!Many blues albums can be a bit "samey" but this one as Joan uses her long experience in other musical forms to produce a set of 13 songs with a different feel - no chance of getting into a rut on this album. For instance, the opener "Woman in Love", one of the album's highlights, is given a gorgeous jazzy feel with its staccatto, slightly syncopated piano accompaniment; "Secular Songs" is almost poppy and very beautiful; "D.N.A" is rocky, bluesy and given a wonderful twist with Joan's fabulous falsetto vocal on the chorus - it's another of the album's many highlights; "Baby Blue Eyes", another catchy tune, gets a banjo accompaniment. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a blues album - it just makes for better listening than most blues albums because of its variety of styles within the genre and the musicianship shown. A couple of the out and out blues highlights are the slow tempo blues "Empty Highway" and the eight-minute closing track, "Something's Gotta Blow", with its effective layered vocals and changes of feel - both bluesy and jazzy - making it a wonderful way to end a brilliant album.If you've ever enjoyed Joan Armatrading's music or been a fan of the blues then there'll be plenty here for you to enjoy so buy this album - you won't regret it!

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