GLENN HUGHES – Soul Mover

Glenn Hughes, The Voice Of Rock, is back. This guy is spitting out albums like mad. Hughes has had his name on more that half a dozen releases during just the few last years, and now he is here with a new solo recording, Soul Mover.

It has been a few years since his previous studio solo album (the well-acclaimed Songs In The Key Of Rock, 2003), however, he has been doing a lot since then, including collaborations with well reputed musicians like Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Deep Purple, Malmsteen), Italian Metal guitarist Dario Mollo (Voodoo Hill, The Cage), and Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi. This time around, Hughes recorded with Chad Smith, his pal and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer. Not very often do legends of the old British school join forces with members of the funky American survivors of the 90s.

Smith played with Hughes’ last year on Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels – a live album including songs from all of Hughes’ more than three decades long career. On Soul Mover, Chad Smith gets to beat the skins to new material, and from time to time it sounds very good!

On the two first tracks, the title track and “She Moves Ghostly,” they’ve also invited guitarist Dave Navarro (ex-Jane’s Addiction and former Red Hot Chili Peppers member) to participate. By doing so, Glenn Hughes, known by many only as a former Deep Purple/Black Sabbath singer from times long gone, has increased his chances to reach out to a younger generation of Funk/Groove/Rock lovers… and why shouldn’t he? Or, why shouldn’t they, the younger generations, be shown the way to the music of The Voice Of Rock? After all, no one who’s listening to rock music should be unaware of the tremendous vocal talent of Glenn Hughes. As well, he might be the most relevant and fresh sounding member of the vast Deep Purple family.

And Soul Mover provides convincing proof why so many claim there is no other voice in rock that can challenge the voice of Hughes. Throughout the album, he shows (off) how he manages to squeeze a million different styles out of his vocal cords – and all of them are soulful and heartfelt. Impressive.

Navarro doesn’t impress a lot, though. On Jane’s Addiction’s last album, Strays, he played some stuff that could be considered “genius.” Here he doesn’t do anything that will stand up for his reputation as a guitar hero. Disappointing. JJ Marsh, Hughes’ guitarist for years, is man enough by far to perform the guitar duties Hughes needs. This is driven home on a track like “Dark Star,” where everything is done oh so smoothly and right.

Tracks like “Land Of The Living” and “Miss Little Insane” are even better. The latter conveys some utterly convincing drumming from Smith. The drums are so tight, and Glenn’s voice is so intense, that the song hardly needs any other elements. The guitar and bass are bonuses.

“Last Mistake” is one of the album’s surprises. Not that it in any sense is inventive or alternative (or something), but it hides as a slow and Bluesy tune. It doesn’t stand out on the album at all, but after a few spins its beauty becomes impossible to ignore. Well done.

Otherwise, on the album’s last half you’ll find tracks like “Isolation” and “Don’t Let Me bleed.” These are songs Glenn Hughes has done a dozen times before. They both are starting out slowly until all Hughes’ energy is poured out on the choruses. Anyone who owns any of the man’s previous solo albums will find these two pretty uninteresting.

Another thing worth commenting on is Glenn Hughes’ use of himself as a background singer. On his aforementioned live album, Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels, he used singers like Quiet Riot’s own Kevin DuBrow. Back in the days with Deep Purple, he shared the vocal task with David Coverdale (which a lot of us still are spastically thankful for!). Even though Hughes carries one of the most diverse voices around, one still shouldn’t underestimate the benefit of bringing along a totally different set of lungs to take care of the backing vocals. On track two, “She Moves Ghostly,” Glenn even manages (as he sings his own backing vocals) to sound like good old Coverdale! That’s cool. However, what about bringing on some female voices next time around?

Anyway. This is the record to pick up for anyone who’s interested in getting to know one of the finest diehards of the British Hard Rock scene. For the fans, buying this album is a compulsory ritual to execute.

Tracks

1. Soul Mover
2. She Moves Ghostly
3. High Road
4. Orion
5. Change Yourself
6. Let It Go
7. Dark Star
8. Land Of The Livin’ (Wonderland)
9. Isolation
10. Miss Little Insane
11. Last Mistake
12. Don’t Let Me Bleed