If you haven’t yet heard the name Eric Gales yet shame on you, and if you haven’t checked out his music then you don’t know what you’re missing. Eric’s brand-new album ‘Crown’ was released via Provogue/Mascot Label Group on 28th January this year and it just may be right up there with his very best. If you love your Blues-rock then it’s Eric who now sits at the head of the table. If you’re lucky enough to be in the UK in March then you can check him out on his 11 date tour, starting in Brighton on 23 March and taking in Dover, London, Southampton, Bristol, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Glasgow, Whitley Bay and finishing in Leeds on 3 April.
‘Crown’ in a word is superb, Blues with a strong Rock finish that has you from the robust ‘Death of Me;’ that opens proceedings. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith and with the majority of the material written by Gales, Bonamassa and Smith with some stellar contributions from others it’s also incredibly strong. ‘Death of Me’ for example has not only a great driving riff but some wonderful lyrics, killer guitar and plenty of room to move and even dabble with a little rapped verse.
‘The Storm’ by complete contrast starts with an unaccompanied vocal before falling into a slinky groove replete with horns, smooth vocals and lilting guitar. It’s masterful. And aside from the 30 strummed seconds of ‘Had to Dip’ the rest of the album is just as enticing with Gale’s wonderful guitar sharing the limelight with the honesty, vulnerability and substance of his words.
‘I Want My Crown’ (Seriously check out the video!) features Bonamassa and Gales engaged in a guitar duel! It’s a great song and great fun, whilst ‘Stand Up’ with its lilting keys intro smoothly fades into a wonderfully mellow, soulful, gospel-tinged wonder. It’s a beautiful song. ‘Survivor’ is harder, edgier and talks race, but man that soaring chorus! It’s magical! ‘You Don’t now the Blues’ that follows is far more traditional and has a wonderful swing, before the minute long wail of ‘Rattlin’ Change’ acts as another interlude before one of the best tracks on the record.
‘Too Close to the Fire’ is that song. It’s a beautiful piece of musicianship on one level, but so much more with he emotion that Gales pours into it, it’s light, melodic, it’s lean and it soars as it ponders racism on an entirely personal level. Without time to catch a breath ‘Put That Back’ gets all funky before ‘Take Me Just as I Am’ (which features Gale’s wife LaDonna Gales) keeps that funky feeling going with a kitchen sink of horns and percussion augmenting LaDonna’s smooth vocal and Eric’s spoken word introduction.
The short and sweet groove based Blues of ‘Let me Start With This’ is followed by the expansive ballad ‘I Found Her’ but it’s the second last track on the album that melts you – the jazzy ‘My Own Best Friend’ s a slow burner that recounts Gales’ own struggles to get here. It’s another wonderfully produced, brilliantly executed number with some sublime guitar. It’s the quirky ‘I Gotta Go’, a bit of fun that makes you smile, that closes.
After listening to Gales over the years, you always knew he had an album in him like this one. This must be his most compete recording to date and well worth the price of admission. Wonderful stuff.
8.5/10