Album Details

• Artist: Greg Brown (boston)
• Album: Ol' Blood N' Guts
• Label: Lion's Breath
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: mark_morton on 2010-06-29

Within the first few seconds of Greg Brown's latest release, the listener immediately blasted with a flavor of culture shock. Ol' Blood N' Guts kicks off with a guitar-hero styled solo, reminiscent of Eric Martin, Steve Vai, or Joe Satriani. But as "I'll Wait Here (For Your Love)" progresses into blues-based, bar-rock, one gets the sense that Greg Brown is more in line with latter day Gary Hoey, early 1980s Eric Clapton than the aforementioned virtuosos.

Ol' Blood N' Guts is an album out of time in that it largely invokes comparisons to hard rock and prototypical heavy metal bands of the 1970s like Deep Purple, Kiss, and ZZ Top. Every song is fervent in its conviction toward no frills, whiskey-soaked, blue color, kickin' back on the front porch rock. Obviously it will be easier for an older generation of people to appreciate Greg Brown over the younger mall-trotters. However, the album is actually a fun listen.

Lyrically Brown is like a modern-day John Mellencamp, telling the American story. Listening to his passion on "In This Life" can almost bring a listener to tears. Although he lacks a studied singing voice, his raw-throated rasp lends itself naturally to the genre he embraces.

The charm of Ol' Blood N' Guts is its unfettered honesty. There is no studio magic, and no flashy effects - it is simply a band and its instruments baring its soul to the world. It is Brown's adamant defiance against modern music trends that gives magic to his music. One minute, you can almost hear him crying into a bottle of whiskey, and in the next, he'll be bashing his boot heel into your teeth. It's been quite a while since an album so REAL has been released.

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2010-06-30 Carlito Said:

We have come full circle when bluesy rock with a pinch of gospel sounds fresh and new. Greg Browns Ol Blood N Guts has that very effect. Not to be confused with the folk singer, the motto in this Greg Browns camp seems to be Keep it simple as they bypass the mainstream by creating rock music from the basics from which we all came to love it in the first place: vocals, drums, guitar, bass, and a little piano. These few elements have made many classic rock albums, well  classic.

From the electric guitar intro on Ill Wait Here (For Your Love) to the vulnerability of Greg Browns raspy voice during the acoustic parts of Cry; Ol Blood N Guts keeps a consistency in sound and style throughout the album. In other words, if you like one song, chances are, youll enjoy the rest. The softer songs like Still Alive and Lost and Found shine the brightest (though this, of course, is a matter of taste).

The lyrical content has an every man appeal to it. On Postal, for example, Brown laments, Sweating long hours, brought home a short check. Didnt ask for much, I deserve the respect.

I wouldnt exactly call any of these songs classic material. Nor would I say this album is for everyone who loves rock. It is not. I would, however, consider Ol Blood N Guts a solid effort on bringing rock music back to its basics. If youre somebody who feels todays radio programming is plagued with nothing but bubblegum pop-rock made from cookie cutters, this album will certainly be a nice escape for you.


Rating: 7/10