Eric Johnson - Bloom
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Free Music Notes for Bloom
Free Music Review: A mature gem
Hit: 5 Stars
I am always reluctant to write a review of music on Amazon, but in this case I feel justified given some of the negative things said about this album. Bloom is not an album in which you will hear a young guitar God trying to prove himself. So, no it does not have the fireworks of of his earlier albums; This is a mature compilation of music in which Eric Johnson has traded fast, catchy licks for intricately woven compositions. The CD is filled with his great tone, for which he is so well known, but I frankly find it more diverse and interesting than any of his efforts thus far. My wife, who is not a guitar player (I am), and who favors folk music, really enjoys Bloom. We listened to it on a long drive. It is beautiful and contains some of his most bold experiments with music. Many of the tracks, such as Cruise the Nile and Magnetized, are very ambient, atmospheric, and spellbinding. There are plenty of "guitar" songs in Bloom, but they are more subtle as they are music, and there is a difference. These are tracks, and there are many like them, where Eric shows some of his influences to fusion, country,jazz, etc. I liked the album so much that I bought the guitar tab book to learn some of his new phrases and songs. Some on this board have remarked that this album lacks the "Cliffs of Dover" type playing of yesterday, but I disagree: Columbia is one such track, as is Bloom and Summer Jam. He also covers, "My Back Pages" in a highly original manner. It is faster and puncher. I love it.
In short, this is an album by a more confident and interesting guitar player with nothing left to prove, only he managed to produce a masterpiece not to be missed by anyone who is a fan of his and a fan of great music. I highly recommend it.
Free Music Review: A Go-to Album
Hit: 5 Stars
Since it's spring, I thought I'd offer a review of Bloom. I've enjoyed this ablum for the past year, through all seasons, and especially love it while I jog. Actually it makes me more of a runner than a jogger. Ha ha!
Bloom's a wonderful album. It's a rich in sound as the earth is in its offerings: dynamic colors in shadows and in the light, beautiful merging and counter-dependent, lush, wriggling, dying, growing, all goodness and radioactive together. There's constant movement from song to song.
The beginning is quite emphatic: it pushes the pulse into the upper ranges and completely attacks at times. The dissonant chords near the end of Summer Jam are a real treat. Eric Johnson knows what he's doing. Good to Me is one of my favorites. It's deceivingly simple. The pulse pretty much keeps steady until Sea Secret.
Here he dives in and goes a wee bit deeper, apropos to the name. One may suspect he's even become a little political with Sad Legacy. From My Heart is very pretty material. It's perfect for driving at night, windows down, freeway free of clouds of fumes and too many cars. That kind of groove (for me, anyway). From there to the Nile with not too cheesy world tones.
By the time the album finishes, it's entirely different. Gone are the fuzz boxes and out has come the classical guitar. Not before Magnetized, though. Sweet runs and great tones abound. It's not hard to enjoy, and especially with the vast number of music choices consumers have at their fingers anymore, Bloom shines.
Free Music Review: FULL BLOOM NOW
Hit: 5 Stars
I've had a deep appreciation for EJ since I heard the "Cliff's of Dover" in the early nineties. Since then, I must have seen him live everytime he came to Houston, and usually front row.
Something I have noticed from his concerts is: That in a sense EJ has been "type cast" by some of his fans. I remember at the G3, where he did a lot of his "Venus Isle", some of the more loud and opionated of the fans shouted remarks about how he should play stop playing "that stuff" and and play so and so.
When he was here at the Verizon recently, he did not play many of his songs of of "Bloom." I really would have loved to have heard him play "Your Sweet Eyes" and "Sunnaround You" and many of the other jazz pieces from Bloom. Not that I am complaining about what he did play, because it was AWESOME. But once again there were the loud and boisterous voices yelling for "SRV" (a great song as well) or other standards. Maybe I'm wrong but it seemed further confirmation that EJ has been type cast.
He is a musical genius who surely has many facets to share with us. Personally, I felt that "Your Sweet Eyes" or "Sunnaround You" could make very tasteful soundtracks for a movie or two.
Eric, if you read this, I invite you to consider this: I would gladly listen to any of your musical ideas, and I would ENJOY hearing them in your concerts, and somehow, I think many of your other fans would as well.
To the critics, let's let him BLOOM NOW.
Richard Bellamy
Houston, TX
Free Music Review: Another great CD from a brilliant guitarist
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an impressive effort. This CD has been played fairly constantly in my car for the past 3 weeks. What impresses me is that I consistently find new bits that stand out depending on my mood. There are some great grooves, brilliant fills, and rocking riffs in classic Eric Johnson style in the first movement, 'Prelude'. The opener 'Bloom' and 'Good To Me' are probably the highlights there. Mr. Johnson then turns it down a bit during 'Courante', the second movement.
'Sad Legacy' and 'From My Heart' are both great introspective songs. 'Sad Legacy' builds a sense of urgency and 'From My Heart' has a mellower, R&B feel and nice jazzy runs. These two are probably my favorites off the album.
The last movement, 'Allemande' starts off with a nice old-school style jazzy number, 'Hesistant'. 'Magnetized' gets things rocking again, before a very good atmospheric classical guitar piece, 'Ciel' ends the ride.
Eric plays an wide variety of styles on this release and manages to keep it all together as one cohesive piece, with one small exception. Tribute to Jerry Reed, while a nice bit of picking doesn't fit on this CD for me, especially after the sitar on 'Cruise The Nile'.
I'd recommend this CD to anyone who enjoyed Ah Via Musicom or Venus Isle. Or, if you aren't familiar with Eric johnson already, then do yourself a favor and pick up a CD. This one is as good as any of his studio albums to start off with.
Free Music Review: A Very Complete and Satisfying Musical Statement
Hit: 5 Stars
I know it's a cliche to say that a CD or any other work is greater than the sum of its parts-- but that doesn't prevent it from being true on occasions like these. That's not to denigrate the parts, by the way-- each is wonderful in its own way. I think the amazon.com critic has a point in that a couple of songs here may not live up to their full potential (and I was almost tempted to give this CD 4.5 stars as a result), but my visceral and emotional response to this reality is that these few songs act as a kind of respite, a breathing space, that actually serves the whole. And even each of these songs begins to convince with its own appeal after a few listenings.
A collection of musical pieces like this is rare in a pop music context-- or actually any setting. Apart from the Beatles, I can think of few musicians who have been able to create a single work this stylistically diverse, musically nourishing, and yet utterly cohesive in its own captivating way. That Eric Johnson's renown rests upon his world-class guitar virtuosity (which he infuses into this mix occasionally, but never overbearingly), makes this accomplishment even more amazing. I think we have something of a complete musician on our hands here-- a true rarity.