Opus review of “Badder to the Bone” by ZicaZine

New review by music man Fred Delforge written in French over on his site “ZicaZine” which does a wonderful job of listening to so much music. I have had a few of my records on his site and each one is a unique perspective on music and whats happening now. Here is a brief excerpt of the review that is employing Google Translate to produce…

“Eliza Neals offers us this year a new album bringing together big names from all over the American blues galaxy, since the pianist and singer who made a name for herself on the Detroit scene before taking her marks throughout the country is accompanied by guitarists Lance Lopez, Michael Puwal and Billy ‘JC’ Davis, Peter Keys and John Galvin on keyboards and organs, Jason Kott and Paul Randolph on bass, Tim Grogan, Skeeto Valdez, Brian Cine and Jeffrey ‘Shakey’ Fowlkes at drums and Kimberli Wright on backing vocals. Prolixe, the diva who regularly floods the bins with her productions returns to us this time with “Badder To The Bone”, a new sandwich where we notice no less than nine original songs but also a rereading of Blind Faith, the group founded in the dawn of the 70’s by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.

Installed in a register where the blues is lined with rock more often than not, this new opus by Eliza Neals does go out of its way to offer us neat compositions in which the guitars are queens and where the saturation’s invite themselves from time to time to bring it all together with real brilliance. Often displaying a small side that is reminiscent of Janis Joplin, the singer gives free rein to her feeling and her emotions and sends us, against a backdrop of well-honed riffs, pieces of bravery on which the soloists shine but where the arrangements are also worked with the greatest care.

We start off with a bang with the very stirring “United We Stand” before getting right in the heart of the superb “Queen Of The Nile”, a slow blues masterfully led by Lance Lopez and Peter Keys who offer solos of all beauty, then it is by walking through “Lockdown Love”, “Bucket Of Tears”, “Heathen” and of course “Can’t Find My Way Home” and “Queen Of The Nile II” that we takes a substantial dose of good vibrations for nearly three quarters of an hour. A good big blues that feels good wherever it goes!”

Now grab a copy of “Badder to the Bone”