Robben Ford - Truth
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Free Music Notes for Truth
Free Music Review: Great CD
Hit: 4 Stars
At last a CD of Robben Ford I really liked again. In line with his first albums (although nog as good as Handful of blues, in my opinion his tour de force, hence the four stars). He's still the master of the "smooth-blues", with very tastefull guitar solos and jazz-influences. I know of only two guys who put so much jazz in their blues, Robben Ford and Melvin Taylor. And both are masters at their craft. I recommend it.Free Music Review: Truth, my review from BarcelonaM; a little disappointment
Hit: 3 Stars
I'm a little disappointed with this new Robben's Ford record, I give it 2,5 stars, only because I like R.Ford very much, I got practically all his discography. This `Truth' has some songs a little noisy and lacking of inspiration,in spite of , frankly, a very good guitar record it is in general a limp record less a pair of songs as " Lateral Climb" and "How Deep In The Blues" and perhaps "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor" with Susan Tedeschi's collaboration.
I have bought this record but I'm not glad by this. There is nothing more to say about it.
Free Music Review: So-so Effort from Robben
Hit: 3 Stars
I own everything that Robben has released, and this set of songs just does not move me very much. It's well-performed, as always. But it's not ground breaking in any way. For me, Robben has "been there, done that" already ... and done it with more enthusiasm. I don't hate this release, but I don't love it either. I will be listening to most of his other stuff far more often than I listen to this.Free Music Review: Pretty decent album
Hit: 3 Stars
This album was pretty good. Its the 2nd album I have purchased of Robben Ford.Free Music Review: The 'truth' is this is Robben Ford 'aspartamine'. Where is the maple syrup?
Hit: 2 Stars
Sorry, Robben, but this is weak. We have certain standards we've come to expect from you, and while this might be a good album from some minor leaguer like John Mayer, you can do better, or at least, you used to do a lot better.
I've been following Ford since the 80's. From the demise of the 'blue line' band (his peak) in the mid 90's, there has been a wake of fairly bland and ho hum inducing albums, starting with 'Supernatural in 1999 which was a BIG drop in quality from the previous 'vocal' studio lp 'handful of blues'. A big reason for this is that Robben lost his most emphatic band, 'the blue line' (Roscoe Beck, Tom Brechtlein). Like the telepathic interplay of Clapton, Bruce, Baker in Cream, Robben had his ultimate sound and TRIO with THE BLUE LINE, and there was nowhere to go but downhill after they split. That was a real road tested band, and Robben's output has been spotty ever since they broke up. A perfect example of a band that was more than the sum of its parts, and really showed RF at his best. Robben thrived in that trio, where he was able to stretch out, and that improvisation/jamming and BAND interplay is virtually non-existant on 'Truth'.
In the last ten years, in his studio output at least, there has also been a move away from gritty blues/rock to an almost muzaky/pop/jazz lite/Kenny G sound. Perhaps he is just mellowing with age. It's certainly more complex than Kenny G, but I can hear Kenny's solos fitting right in with this music in my elevator or local Safeway. That's it...this music is just too...safe.
I can understand the need to back away from hard driving blues/rock guitar work as Robben has been playing it for 35 years and has nothing to prove any more. I also understand his obvious need for 'growth' as a songwriter and his need to experiment, but 'song writing' is just not his strength. Same with the vocals. They are adequate, but they don't elevate his material to anything close to the classic singers of HIS genre, which is blues. With a different singer, a strong female vocalist, that would already improve these songs. Jeff Beck rarely wrote his own material. He was a player, an interpreter. Robben is the same.
5 albums and 12 years since the career highpoint of 'Handful of blues' (1995), I hear less and less memorable guitar riffs, hooks, etc. Occasional flashes of instrumental brilliance do not a song make. One can say that Robben has 'evolved', but to me, this is regression. Technically, the guitar playing can't be faulted on 'Truth' as there are always some guaranteed solo flights and chord progressions that impress, but the SONGS on here, like the previous 3 albums, are just nothing really special or memorable, with only the occasional exception, such as the sublime 'River of soul' which is the best song on the CD.
Another (small) problem on 'Truth' is the guitar tone, which is usually never the problem with RF. He's lost the creamy goodness that he had on 'Handful of blues'. If it ain't broke...
I doubt that in ten years, or even next year, anyone is going to remember this CD. It's not going to gain him any new fans. It's too middle of the road 'meh'. Considering that he took a 4 year break to record 'Truth', I expected better. What's shocking is that for the first time, there is a wince inducing song: 'Riley B.King' "...he's the king of emotion." Too bad, the song itself has ZERO and goes nowhere. Bad verse makes it embarrassing to listen to.
The initial 'Wow factor' I got when getting on the Ford wagon in the 80's is due entirely to seeing his 'live concerts'. If 'Truth' was my introduction to Ford, I would never have become a fan.
'Truth' is Robben 'lite'. Robben 'new coke'. Robben 'aspartamine'. Where's the good old maple syrup?
'Truth' has too many studio musicians who sound like they are phoning it in. It's also too overpolished, and when added to half baked song writing, it detracts from what should be a lot more 'raw'and 'loose' especially for a guy of Ford's improvisational talents. It sounds like he's been hanging out with Michael McDonald too much. I think he wants to be the new Supertramp, but without the 'songs'. I never liked Supertramp, but I can still hum a half dozen of their songs, thirty years after having heard them. I can't remember a single song on 'Truth'.
What he needs to do is just release his 'studio' songs as a 'live' album, AFTER they've been road tested a bit with a good live band. Simply put, this is nowhere near 'essential' Robben Ford, and would be one of the last albums of his 35 year career that I would ever recommend to anyone who is unfamiliar with him. If you want classic Robben start with 'handful of blues', 'RF and the blue line', 'Mystic mile', or anything 'live'.
Robben has played on hundreds of other artists albums, and here's why: He's brilliant as a strict guitar sideman, and his guitar work jusitfiably puts him in the top 100 of all time, but he needs to be around real songwriters where his playing is elevated in the context of much better written songs. Robben speaks much more eloquently with his guitar than he does with his voice/lyrics/songwriting, and that's why his strong suit is instrumentals. One only needs to listen to 'Life song' off his 1991 release to know that his instrumental voice IS his voice.
He needs to do what Gov't Mule does: record and sell all his live shows on his website, because that is where his real SOUND and TALENT is.