Black Country Commmunion

Put together musicians who have played with Zeppelin, Deep Purple and others and you should expect a concoction of ‘70s era hard rock with a blues belting vocal delivery. The new “super group” Black Country Communion is just that. Featuring Glenn Hughes on vocals, master blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa, and Jason Bonham on drums, the band plow through a heavy, riff-saturated opener entitled “Black Country” with Hughes planting himself firmly inside the rocker.

Perhaps the best thing about this offering is that what you anticipate is what you get with “One Last Soul,” the solid “The Revolution In Me” and the groovy “Down Again," all offering bite with strong guitar work. However, fans hoping for the second coming of Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti should aim a bit lower, more like Jimmy Page’s Outrider, after hearing “The Great Divide,” the mediocre “Medusa” and the lengthy, winding, string-tinged “Song Of Yesterday.”
 
At a rather fat 70-minutes plus, Black Country Communion – which is rounded out with keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) have some finer moments on the boogie-hued “No Time” but generally the closing “Too Late For The Sun” exemplifies the album – good but not great.

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