Released By : Mascot Records
Genre : Funk Rock, Blues Rock, Classic Rock
Link : http://bccommunion.com/
Lineup:
Glenn Hughes – Vocals, Bass
Joe Bonamassa – Guitar, Vocals
Jason Bonham – Drums
Derek Sherrinian – Keyboards, Organ
Tracklist:
01. Big Train
02. This Is Your Time
03. Midnight Sun
04. Confessor
05. Cry Freedom
06. Afterglow
07. Dandelion
08. The Circle
09. Common Man
10. The Giver
11. Crawl
When supergroup BLACK COUNTRY REUNION released their 2010 debut BLACK COUNTRY I have no shame in admitting that it categorically blew me away. Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa are two of my favourite musicians, so there was that aspect, but the band as a whole seemed to bring back a page of pure rock ‘n’ roll that had been all but lost up until their arrival on the scene. Their follow up “2” a year later was almost as good as the first one and I was hapy to declare that BCC were one of the most important bands to have emerged in years.
Another year gone by and the band have released their third album titled AFTERGLOW, and try as I might I just can’t get into this one as much as the last two. If you follow any sort of rock music news sites you’ve likely heard by now that things in the BCC camp aren’t as rosy as they once were and that Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa have been rather unhappy with one another due to scheduling conflicts during the writing phase of this latest album, which has meant that Bonamassa has been busy touring and promoting his latest solo album, causing a majority of the writing being left to Hughes, who was also busy trying to piece together his latest solo effort.
The result is that AFTERGLOW feels much more like a Glenn Hughes solo album than a true BCC album. There’s still a strong seventies blues-rock backbone and the influence from bands like THE WHO and LED ZEPPELIN is still clearly found across the album, but overall there is more a funk-ish feel to the record, which to long-time Hughes solo career followers will be quite familiar with. Sometimes I also get a vibe that reminds me a little of what AUSIOSLAVE did. It’s a strong rock album yes, and it certainly has a few moments where it is completely smokin’, for example tracks like CONFESSOR, CRY FREEDOM and COMMON MAN. What is really missing though is the vocal contribution from Joe Bonamassa though, and while the songs he fronted on the previous two albums where all little highlights themselves, on AFTERGLOW he is delegated to not much more than a backing vocalist, save for a few moments here and there.
If AFTERGLOW had of been labelled as a Glenn Hughes solo record I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more than I did, but seeing as though this is meant to be the next epic from supergroup deluxe BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. With the issues that are going on within the band at the moment, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the last we hear from BCC for a while. Let’s hope not though as I’d really prefer them to have another go at recapturing the magic of the first couple of albums.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 7/10
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