GLENN HUGHES – First Underground Nuclear Kitchen

It is a rare thing these days to have a musician whose influences come from Soul and Funk mainly, then being influenced to a greater extent from listening to some of Motown’s strongest bassists; to play in some of the heaviest bands out there. Well this is the case when it comes to Glenn Hughes. Glenn’s career is as vast and expansive as it gets. Hughes’ career began back in the 60’s with Finders Keepers and then onto the British Funk Rock band Trapeze. Hughes then went on to become the bassist/vocalist for Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976 and embarked on a solo career after leaving that began in 1977 and is still going strong today. He also did a short stint with Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath (in 1986) that was supposed to be a solo project of Iommis’, but eventually turned into Black Sabbath’s 12th LP, Seventh Star. In-between were numerous other bands and teaming up with other renowned artists — too many to mention.

Listening to this new release for the first time made quite an impression regarding several areas of concentration. These being Mr. Hughes’ singing voice, his bass style, his playing ability, the album’s overall sound and appeal, what genre might FUNK (short for First Underground Nuclear Kitchen) belong to, etc. In listening to a wide range of albums produced by Glenn Hughes over the years, it is evident that his voice is better suited towards Funk/Motown/Soul in that order. As different and unique as it is, which is often a good thing to possess in today’s music world, Glenn’s voice just doesn’t seem to fit or come out on top when it comes to Rock/Hard Rock not even mentioning anything harder. One wonders how he fit in with bands such as Deep Purple or Black Sabbath in the first place?

Being categorized as Hard Rock/Metal when doing album searches on the Web can really throw someone especially when they expect just that but get none of that upon buying and listening to FUNK. Just so everyone is aware of the fact and don’t come running to shoot the messenger, this release is as eclectic as it is eccentric. In all honesty, if you are really looking for Rock/Hard Rock or anything stronger, don’t … really don’t buy this recording. If you are a true Glenn Hughes fan and are familiar with his previous work, then by all means go ahead if you like his style. In a sense, there is no middle ground here. This is a tough one to rate because there are so many odd things going on at concurrently and there is no familiar sound or pattern from one song to the next. It’s basically a grab bag full of tunes and you cannot figure out or know what to expect from one track to the next.

There are eleven tracks on FUNK with just as many song variations. There are several tunes that start out sounding as if they are really going to be rockin’ and then turn funky or take another direction altogether such as the opener titled “Crave.” The strongest Rock/Funk combo is the title-track “First Underground Nuclear Kitchen.” Things quickly turn in another direction after that. The hardest or heaviest track on the album is “Oil And Water” although you have to survive the short and mellow intro before the song kicks it in gear. That’s it in a nutshell. There are a couple more tunes that almost meet this standard but don’t come out swinging from beginning to end as in that track. Then there are way too many tracks on the album that in a certain reviewer’s opinion sound like elevator music. If not, then a strong argument can be made so that they be included in that category.

Glenn’s bass playing is actually very good, his voice very different and suited toward a different genre of music (not Rock/Hard Rock or Metal as the CD is categorized). The music if you really listen to the entire album is also good and can be appreciated for what it is. Glenn’s musical background and influences are emphatically showcased throughout the entire album-at some points stronger than others. The album does however get held back slightly in a rating sense simply because it is placed into a genre (not to mention the music) that it should never have been forced into. Most listeners will undoubtedly think it is too mellow or funky although the musicianship on it is quite superb. There’s a saying that has been around for a long time that goes-“same shit, different day.” In this case it can be paralleled with-“wrong genre, not what you expect.”