Volker Strifler Band - The Dance Goes On
ARTIST.....: Volker Strifler Band
TITLE......: The Dance Goes On
LABEL......: Blue Rock'it
URL........: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7294376&BAB=E
RIP DATE...: Jan-26-2007
STORE DATE.: Oct-24-2006
GENRE......: Blues
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 87,4 MB
Track Listing:
01 - The Dance Goes On 04:07
02 - Somebody Helps Me 05:08
03 - Soul Salvation 04:11
04 - On A Day Like Today 05:54
05 - Angel 05:17
06 - Evil 02:27
07 - Spoonfull 05:36
08 - Wake Up 02:32
09 - Listen To The Rain 05:34
10 - Constantine 03:35
11 - Sometimes I Wonder 05:06
12 - Downtown Living 04:53
13 - Shuffelupagus 03:56
─────
58:16 min
Release Notes:
The Ford Blues Band guitarist steps center-stage for his second
solo album and the impressive results show he should consider
leading his own band full-time. Since The Dance Goes On was
recorded in Germany and California with musicians from both
locales, Volker Strifler connects his disparate influences into a
seamless whole. His hollow body solos are as impressive as you'd
expect, but it's his voice that is the real revelation here. He
sings in a confident but not brash style that perfectly suits the
horn-infused blues, R&B, surf and soul that dominate this release.
Although the project is blues based, it is not like the
straight-ahead Chicago blues favored by his other band. There are
only two covers and they are both from the Willie
Dixon-by-way-of-Howlin' Wolf songbook; an acoustic "Evil" -- the
album's only entirely unplugged tune -- and a lowdown version of
"Spoonful." They are placed next to each other in the mid-section
of the disc as sort of a detour to the more soul influenced bulk
of this material. Tunes such as the horn driven "Somebody Help Me"
and "Downtown Living" are Memphis-styled R&B with chunky backbeats
and Strifler's husky vocals bringing the emotion. "On a Day Like
Today" and "Angel" are the album's primary singer/songwriter
tunes. They effortlessly shift from acoustic to electric then back
again, showing Strifler's talents also extend to arrangements and
writing quality melodies. Although most tracks feature solos, the
songs are not built around them and could stand on their own
without Strifler's tasteful leads. Two instrumentals,
"Constantine" and "Shuffelupagus" let the guitarist stretch his
chops. The former finds him in reverbed spaghetti western
territory while the latter is an album-closing jazzy shuffle with
a slight Wes Montgomery feel. It wraps up a tremendously
satisfying, eclectic and often surprising collection which shows
that the quadruple-threat artist (guitarist, songwriter, vocalist
and producer) might eclipse the Ford Blues Band in popularity if
he chooses to make this side project a permanent gig.