(LP) Joe Bonamassa - Royal Tea (2LP)

Release Date:	102320
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From the album’s title to the choice of Abbey Road Studios as the recording locale, Joe Bonamassa makes every effort to channel the aura of the great British Blues explosion on his latest LP, Royal Tea. Not wanting to appear the slightest bit lukewarm about his approach, Bonamassa even enlists a little collaborative writing help from former Cream lyricist Pete Brown, Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, and Jools Holland. 

With the setting saturated in English decor, listeners might be expecting a set of late ‘60s “near-covers” that hue incredibly close to offerings of that era. Bonamassa and company avoid a heavy-handed tribute to the genre and instead opt for subtle injections and inflections of the style into ten original tracks that would sound as fresh in past generations as they do today. There are brief nods to famous licks of yesteryear, hints of Jeff Beck to be found on distorted solos, and echoes of Clapton’s airy tone on slower passages, but these arise organically and never feel forced or aped.

Royal Tea doesn’t fixate on tempos, tones, or accompaniment. Opening with orchestral strings, “When One Door Opens” weds the baroque intro with a heavy main riff and faint female backing vocals to create a very large soundscape. Anton Fig’s cracking drums herald the second half of the composition in which Bonamassa decorates with some fuzzed-wah guitar fills. Equally heavy is the following “Royal Tea.” Punctuated guitar licks and Reese Wynans’s Hammond Organ bursts propel the verses’ clever call-and-response interplay between Bonamassa and the backing vocalists.
-Blues Rock Review

 

Tracklist