Before there was metal, there was hard rock. Before there was hard rock, there was the blues. Through it all has been the British blues institution, Savoy Brown. 55 years and 29 studio albums into their storied career, Kim Simmonds and company are here to remind us they Ain’t Done Yet. From the energy displayed on this outing, not only is this a band who Ain’t Done Yet, but a band who’s just getting started!
In the press release for this album, Simmonds stated he set out to apply a “new and progressive” approach to the music he’s loved since he was a teenager. You’d think that’d be hard to do with a form of music that’s seemingly been around as long as time itself. Simmonds, being the trailblazer he is, makes it look easy. The album opens with a gutsy rocker in “All Gone Wrong”. It’s an orthodox 12 bar blues, but those solos have the power to touch a man’s soul. And to think it was Clapton who young English hooligans proclaimed as “God” upon hearing Blues Breakers (1966).
“Devil’s Highway” is a delicate number with an air of nocturnal mystery. The same can be said for “Feel Like a Gypsy”. I can’t help but notice a slight shade of Santana in these softer songs. Meanwhile, “River on the Rise” transports us to the Mississippi delta. You can almost envision a young Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at those infamous crossroads as Simmonds picks away on some sizzling slide guitar.
Speaking of slide, somebody call the Reverend Willie G (that’s Billy Gibbons to you common folk)! The beefy bluesy goodness of “Jaguar Car” will surely run you off the road. Yet “Jaguar Car”, in all its Texan glory, is only my second favorite track. My choice cut off Ain’t Done Yet is the sultry, swaggering “Soho Girl”. Not only does it boast the heaviest riff on the album and Simmonds’ signature soloing, it also shows off Simmonds the lyricist. “She likes Muddy Waters. / She cooks a mean Mexican meal.”: I’ll be damned if that isn’t the finest lyric written this year.
If you’ve made it this far into the review and are asking yourself why a metal site is reviewing a blues album, the answer is simple: There’d be no metal if it weren’t for the blues. Don’t believe me? Ask Black Sabbath. It was this very scene that boasted acts like Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac which Sabbath were once a part of, albeit under the name Earth. The connection doesn’t end there! Upon Ozzy Osbourne’s initial split from the band in 1977, his replacement was none other than ex-Savoy Brown singer, Dave Walker! So instead of being nit-picky about what is and isn’t metal, check out this album and be grateful that Savoy Brown Ain’t Done Yet. I sure am.
7 out of 10
Label: Quarto Valley Records
Genre: Blues Rock
For fans of: ZZ Top, Robin Trower, Gary Moore