Joe Bonamassa - Blues of Desperation [2LP]

Joe Bonamassa plays with real muscle and grit on Blues of Desperation, a 2016 studio album spread across two LPs in a gatefold jacket.

By then the New York-born guitarist had become one of the hardest-working names in modern blues rock, releasing records at a relentless clip. Working again with his longtime producer Kevin Shirley at Grand Victor Sound in Nashville, he co-wrote most of the material with Nashville songwriters including James House and Tom Hambridge, giving the album a strong, song-first backbone rather than a simple excuse for extended jamming.

Opener "This Train" comes in at full steam, and "Mountain Climbing" keeps the momentum rolling. The epic "No Good Place for the Lonely" stretches past eight minutes, a slow-burning showcase for the patient, soaring solos that made his name, while the title track "Blues of Desperation" adds a darker, more brooding shade to the middle of the set.

Across 11 tracks his tone is huge and his phrasing unhurried, with plenty of fireworks for guitar devotees and enough melody to keep the songs front and center.

For fans of big, blues-rooted rock guitar played with conviction, this is Bonamassa at his most confident and expansive, and a highlight of his studio catalogue.