Artist: Royal Southern Brotherhood
Album: Heartsoulblood
Bitrate: 251kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Ruf Records
Genre: Blues
Size: 100.84 megs
PlayTime: 0h 53min 06sec total
Rip Date: 2014-06-28
Store Date: 2014-06-20
Track List:
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01. World Blues 4:09
02. Rock And Roll 4:57
03. Groove On 4:42
04. Here It Is 4:04
05. Callous 5:04
06. Ritual 4:31
07. Shoulda Known 4:05
08. Let's Ride 4:42
09. Trapped 3:52
10. She's My Lady 5:08
11. Takes A Village 3:45
12. Love And Peace 4:07
Release Notes:
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The so-called Us Supergroup who mix blues, rock, soul and all sorts of
ingredients into the Gumbo, serving up a spicy dish with wide appeal.
ôWorld Blues,ö opens things, with a great groove, built on some fiery slide
guitar from Mike Zito. Retro Southern rock blues, with the vocals shared among
Mike, Cyril and Devon.
ôRock and Roll,ö is Stones and Springsteen territory, before the slinky funk of
ôGroove On,ö which is very percussive, putting me in mind of the Atlanta Rhythm
SectionÆs ôSpooky,ö and underlines this bandÆs knack of nailing a groove from
the off. Digging deep and staying with it. ItÆs a very strong song and vocal,
with an infectious hook and great guitar break. A lovely weaving of guitars from
Mike and Devon.
Yonrico and CharlieÆs drums and bass locked together, as on the rest of this
album. When I spoke with Cyril Neville recently, he accurately described the
pair as the ôthunder and lightningö of this album. Their contribution should not
be under estimated. Everything is built upon their solid foundations on every
song, even the slower, gentler stuff. They are a formidable force.
ôHere It Is,ö starts with CharlieÆs funky bass line, on a swampy soul feel of a
song. Sounding like a soundtrack for a 70s Blaxploitation movie. A lovely vocal,
a Meters/Neville Brothers greasy low down groove. ItÆs a standout track for me.
Sly and the Family Stone-ish too, perhaps. I love the space they leave, avoiding
groovus interruptus. The only thing missing is the flute!
ôCallous,ö is one of those clever songs that sounds like something you have
heard before. ItÆs a brand new tune set upon another low down groove. Another
highlight of this record.
Jim Gaines is a master of ôless is moreö production, allowing the material to
breath. A great example of this is the brilliant work he did on the late
Clarence ôGatemouth,ö BrownÆs album ôStanding My Ground,ö which features the
very best version of the classic ôGot My Mojo Working,ö I have ever heard.
This really is a dream team with these five talented musicians and Jim at the
helm, engineered by the great David Z.
ôRitual,ö gives us Texas style blues rock, with some steamy guitar work.
ôShoulda Known,ö is a lovely dollop of slow Southern Country soul blues, a song
that grew on me after a few listens. It builds into a heart wrenching lead
vocal.
The mid-tempo rocker, ôLetÆs Ride,ö features a soulful vocal from Cyril, with
that growl in the back of his throat. ô IÆm just a man with a missionàààö he
tells us. Bloody right you are Cyril, as are all of you famous five. YonricoÆs
solid drums hammer out the foundations, thereÆs a grungy guitar solo on top of a
heavy groove, a lyric that tells us about riding a Harley.
ôTrapped,ö is an OK mid-tempo rocker. The best of the bunch for my ears is a
slight departure, and it is beautiful. ôSheÆs My Lady,ö an out and out retro
soul ballad, in Isleys, Chi-Lites, Stylistics, Eddie Holman style. It really is
so damn good. A potential summer radio hit, to open them up to a new market
whoÆd still probably dig the rockier stuff.
RSB are Southern soul boys at heart. The falsetto and harmonies on ôSheÆs My
Lady,ö are just lovely - there may well be a few babies conceived to this one!
ôTakes A Village,ö kicks off with CyrilÆs conga drums, features some howling
slide guitar, and is perhaps a tad too sparse and doesnÆt really get going. The
closer, ôLove And Peace,ö starts with a rocky groove and goes into a kind of
Carribbean/reggae-ish type thing. ItÆs an instrumental mainly, with ensemble
singing in the chorus. I am not sure this is quite strong enough to end this set
with.
ôHeartSoulBlood,ö is an album that has its highs, its red hot moments, but then
goes luke warm at times. ItÆs not a blues album, itÆs not a soul album, itÆs not
a rock album and itÆs not a funk album. But it mixes all of that and more.
This band is ALL about chemistry. It is not five guys trying to be boss. This
album is the sound of a band, and not a bunch of top solo artists trying to out
shine each other. It also has nowt to do with that silly phrase Supergroup.
Other than they are super and they are a group!
ItÆs two years since 2012Æs self-titled debut album. We have also been given a
live album recorded in Germany. They sound like they have been together for
years but in fact, only formed in 2011. Their songs are well road tested having
toured across more than 20 countries.