Reviewing “Dirt On My Diamonds Volume 1” last year, which ended with a full-on, sultry blues number, I posed the question in the review as to whether that last track was a precursor for the album as a whole.
The answer is no, and that becomes clear almost as soon as it starts.
“I Got A Woman” is as straight as boogie rock gets. ZZ Top would go gold with it. It’s a thing of beauty. Sleazy fun—and that’s not the last time we’ll be saying that.
But the solo is a little reminder of how good KWS is, and the word “boogie” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there because if there’s one thing that defines “…Volume 2,” it’s its commitment to the grooves.
“The Middle” is different—both in vibe and tone—soulful. A horn section and a plea for the ordinary people.
And if the majority is frequently on the mind throughout, the ballad “My Guitar Is Crying” is personal and beautifully done. The feel of it isn’t too far from the “Stranger In This Town” record from Richie Sambora all those years ago.
“Long Way Down” is a mighty slice of arena rock, flavoured with a little bit of the South and mixed with a whole lot of stoicism. You can imagine Black Stone Cherry wishing they’d got this one.
And that sleazy thing we talked about earlier? Listen to the absolute centrepiece of this thing, “Never Made It To Memphis,” so catchy they can add the vaccination to my flu jab, frankly.
As befits an album recorded in the Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals, there’s loads of Southern soul here. The Cajun hot sauce almost drips off “Watch You Go,” and if the last few have seen the band (and it very much is a band) flirting with this stuff, this feels like a full-on fling.
Rather like Joe Bonamassa’s forays into more soul material, “…Diamonds Part 2” relies on its horn section, which works fabulously on stuff like “Pressure” and even more so when mixed with the blues as on “She Loves My Automobile” to give a real Chicago vibe.
It’s ambitious, this project, and also very modern. Designed, reckons the man himself, to fit in with the way people consume music today, “Dirt On My Diamonds Volume 2,” in isolation, is as good, fun, and consistently superb as part one was. Given that they were recorded together, though, they have essentially given the Spotify generation a double album by stealth, and taken together as a whole, the thing is sensational.
Rating: 9/10
