This is my first attempt at writing a review of an album. If this one is well received, then I might consider doing a review for more of the CDs I buy in the near future.
Jonny Lang’s new album, Long Time Coming, certainly has been. It’s his first new material in about five years, and I have been anxiously waiting for it. Sure, he’s a blues prodigy. He’s been playing the guitar and singing like a man in his 70’s since he was 13. I first heard about him when he was doing a live performance in Disney World at age 15. My father and I were watching this, and we both loved it, which is amazing if you consider that we almost never see eye-to-eye on music. But as good as he sounds, he wasn’t doing a whole lot of his own material. Until now. Almost every song on the album was written by him, and I’m liking his songwriting skills.
It seems that the time he spent in college the last few years has done great things for his music. The first track, Give Me Up Again, simply blew me away. You can almost see him in your mind’s eye singing this to the girl who broke his heart.
Track #5, Touch, starts off with an addictive R&B beat, only adding some piano for the chorus. My first thought when I heard this song was that some rapper out there will isolate and steal the beat of this song.
The title track and final song on the album is just Jonny and an acoustic guitar in one take. His singing and playing are so passionate, you can hear him running out of breath near the end of the song.
My CD also has a bonus track, a live cover of Livin’ For the City by Stevie Wonder. A nice addition to the album.
All in all, I’d give this album 3.5 out of 4 stars. An excellent blues album from someone who I hope will be around for a long, long time. I just wish he wouldn’t make me wait so long between albums.