Alvin Lee - Still On The Road To Freedom

This morning I recieved a very nice surprise with this unexpected new Alvin Lee album. I've been a fan since discovering him in 1986 with the album Detroit Diesel. I was immediately a fan after the first listen to that brilliant rock & roll masterpiece. I then learned thanks to Marty (Mom's Ex) that he was from a band named Ten Years After of whom I had not discovered on my own. Since 1986 I've paid attention to Mr. Lee and got to see him live that year with Steppenwolf and Roger McGuinn from the Byrds.

As the years have passed he's become a serious favorite and I am always up for new music from the fret master who outclasses that overrated piece of shit Clapton with every album. Fast forward to 2012 and we have some new music and it's a slow burner for sure. I expect him to slow down a little at his age of 67. But the difference between slowing down and just not having it anymore is huge. The man can still play and ring those notes with serious emotion and craftsmanship.

The albums opener and title track is a pretty slick blues number that intro's a dark damaged tone that showcases Lee's psychedelic side. The song sounds like it could have walked out 1968 with ease to present itself in the here and now. One of the standout tracks is "Save My Stuff" a nice little mid-tempo rocker which is followed by the rockabilly jive tune called "I'm A Lucky Man" that begs to be danced to from the second it starts. The album continues forward with another quality tune "Walk On, Walk Tall" which is country folk styled number. Lee sometimes misses with this sort of song because his vocals don't always measure up and with that said the song is good but Alvin's voice does lack the deep baritone of a Johnny Cash or Josh Turner which is what it really needs to make it truly sing.

The awesome "Blues Got Me So Bad" has that traveling sound that shakes your ass no matter where it's planted. Your hips just can't stop swaying and your head from boppin' along to the groove. This is where Alvin Lee shines most in my opinion and this song at 2:11 is far to short. When the country sounding "Nice & Easy" graces my speakers I actually reached for the volume dial without thought to crank it up. Just a good song that reminds me a little of Mark Knopfler and his hipness. The Bo Diddly beat drives "Back In '69" which is another good song on an album that is really a solid album with very little in the way of flaws. Coming in with a great song to close the album "Love Like A Man 2" is about the closest you get to that Ten Years After sound. I just love Lee's guitar tone on this track specifically the rhythm guitar because that distortion effect is so smooth yet effective.

Alvin Lee still delivers the goods decades into his career and this album is another in a long line of material that any musician would be proud to have created.