Eric Gales – Transformation

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Just like the title of his 2010 album, US bluesman Eric Gales is relentless, and in less than a year he has another album ready for consumption in Transformation, another trademark mix of rock and heavy blues. Initially unfairly known as a Hendrix clone (mostly because he’s a left-handed black man who plays the blues, but not aided by his own insistence to play an upside-down guitars and take part in Hendrix tribute tours) Gales has his own identity (with more than a little Lenny Kravitz to his voice) and consistently records high-quality albums of hooky blues songs with plenty of fretboard finery. Fans of his can’t go wrong with any of his discs, but Transformation is not his strongest album purely because several of the tracks go on too long. The title track and opener Railroaded in particular are great songs, but out-stay their welcome long before they finish. As such, the album proves a little wearing at 68 minutes when many of the tracks could have two minutes each shaved off of them with no loss of quality. Nevertheless, there are no faults with any of the songs (except a silly Double Dippin’) as Gales croons and shreds his way through his full repertoire, just as he has on all of his other albums. There are plenty of blazing solos (Tortured Mind), groove-riffs (I Pity The Fool, I Wouldn’t Treat A Dog That Way, Altered Destiny) and more traditional blues runthroughs (Sometimes Wrong Feels Right, Railroaded). Basically there’s everything that could normally be expected from an Eric Gales album, as good as ever.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Blues, Quick.Play Reviews, Eric Gales