(Shock/Border)
Herald rating: * * * *
Review: Graham Reid
Another long overdue album. This is the first by this rockin' self-styled queen of tough Chicago blues since the early 90s so expectation is high, especially when she comes with a guest list including Kenny Wayne Shepherd, B. B. King, Keb' Mo' and former Chuck Berry pianist Johnnie Johnson.
No disappointment either, although Taylor's full-barrel blast of blues-rock is very 70s sounding in places (especially when Sheppard starts his kiss-the-sky playing on Bring Me Some Water). Her own guitarist Criss Johnson is a take-no-prisoners player, too.
So mostly it's house rocking stuff with highlights being her gravelly treatment of Ray Charles and Percy Mayfield's But on the Other Hand.
Rocking out, busty blues with stinging electric guitar and the customary innuendo in the "take a look at my transmission" lyrics.
Yep, long overdue.
<i>Koko Taylor:</i> Royal Blue
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