New album: Love And Hate
Artist: Joan Osborne
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Label: eOne
Joan Osborne is known to most people as the singer of the 1995 hit “One Of Us,” as in “...what if God was one of us?”. Aside from a high profile gig singing on tour with the Grateful Dead, Osborne has spent most of the last decade making solid yet criminally unheralded albums.
If you only know Osborne for her one pop hit, you’re missing out on one of the greatest singers of the modern era. Osborne has been blessed with the guts of Janis Joplin and the versatility of Dusty Springfield, but on “Love and Hate” she seems to be pushing the songwriting envelope. Osborne co-wrote all of the album’s tracks with the likes of Jack Petruzelli, Keith Cotton, Captain Beefheart album Gary Lucas and Eric Bazilian (writer of “One Of Us”), and the results are the strongest batch of songs she has recorded to date.
“Love And Hate” - the album - is apparently a group of songs about relationships. While this is nothing new in terms of subject matter, Osborne and her collaborators have crafted an intriguing work that is unlike anything else in the catalog. Instead of an album filled with breakup songs, Osborne deals with the positive side of coupling as well. Osborne proclaims “the way the summer makes everybody young/that’s the way you work on me” in “Work On Me,” and when things do get complicated (“Kitten’s Got Claws,” “Not Too Well Acquainted”) the lyrics never devolve into you-go-girl cliches.
Whether it’s a case of restlessness or a shift in collaborators, the style of the songs on “Love And Hate” is different from any other Joan Osborne album. The exotic “Raga” is propelled by tasteful percussion, harmonium, the sublime slide guitar of Nels Cline and a hypnotic Bollywood vocal melody. As great as this entire album is, “Raga” will make you hope an entire album of songs cut from the same cloth are on the way.
Flashes of Joan Osborne’s soul roots show up on the clavinet groove of “Mongrels” and the Rick Wright-like title track. She never rips loose vocally the way she did on “Right Hand Man” a few years ago, but that approach would have been wrong for these songs. Osborne has the type of voice that would allow her to sing the contents off the side of a hair spray bottle and still have an audience dying to hear it, but she’s wisely chosen to reroute her powerful voice in and around these multi-faceted songs.
Who knows if “Love And Hate” will get the promotional push it deserves, but anyone who thinks Grace Potter has it going on should really devote some time to Joan Osborne.
Classic album: Going Back Home
Artist: Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey
Label: Chess Records
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
While most rock fans in the U.S. know Roger Daltrey as the lead singer of the Who and sometime solo artist and actor, Wilko Johnson of the British band Dr. Feelgood is a bit of a head scratcher.
Truth be told, many Americans have seen Johnson playing the part of executioner Ilyn Payne in the HBO series “Game Of Thrones” - his one and only acting job. Due to being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, Johnson relinquished his acting duties. Instead of spending his remaining days going through chemotherapy, Johnson decided to undertake one last tour and take up Daltrey on his offer to record a new album.
With time being of the essence, “Going Back Home” was recorded in just eight days. While the time crunch was obviously a concession to Johnson’s health, it is a revival of the way Daltrey and Johnson’s main bands used to record. The Who’s debut LP “My Generation” - routinely ranked as one of the greatest rock albums of all time - was recorded in less than a week, and Daltrey in particular has stated in numerous interviews his delight at recording this quickly once again.
Aside from a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” “Going Back Home” consists mainly of songs Johnson originally wrote for Dr. Feelgood along with a few new songs. Johnson’s tight touring band rocks with the panache of a thousand pub bands on this concise collection of top drawer British R&B.
Harmonica player Steve Weston adds authentic blues flavor - particularly to the old school stomp of “I Keep It To Myself,” recalling the tonal quality of harp great Paul Butterfield. Drummer Dylan Howe (song of Yes guitarist Steve Howe) nails songs such as “All Through The City” and “Sneaking Suspicion” firmly in the pocket, allowing Johnson’s manic guitar chops to steer Daltrey’s ebullient vocals.
Johnson’s guitar playing is as thick and strong as it was in his Dr. Feelgood days, and Daltrey seems relieved to be singing this type of music again. There is nothing revolutionary or groundbreaking on “Going Back Home,” but as Daltrey might say it’s jolly good fun.
The Free Press Radio Show recently recorded an audio interview with Wilko Johnson. Look for it on www.kinston.com.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase Jon’s new book “Counterfeit Sauerkraut & The Weekend Teeth” at The Free Press office and jondawson.com.