"Was it just me, or was the Black Country Communion debut album a wee
bit over-praised? Maybe folks were just desperate for some trouser
straining seventies style rock, but it wisnae really all that good.
For sure, it was good to hear Glenn Hughes wrapping his tonsils around
something a bit more substantial than he has of late, but after some
initial slavering, I haven't returned to it since. Thankfully, this is
better.
 It's the same mini-supergroup as on last year's debut, with guitarist
Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham and one time Dream Theater
keyboardist Derek Sherinian making up the ranks, and it comes out
firing on all cylinders with a couple of explosive rock tracks in the
shape of 'The Outsider' and 'Man In The Middle'. It's an album that
seems to be firmly aimed at the music starved ranks of Lez Zeppelin
fans, rather than fans of bands associated with the back catalogue of
the members, with the most obvious song being 'Save Me', a tune that
Jason Bonham says originated with the Led Zeppelin reunion rehearsals
four or so years back.
It does seem more like a band album this time around, unlike the debut
which had project written all over it, and on songs like 'Little
Secret' and 'Faithless', the band seem to have fully gelled as a unit,
with Sherinian in particular, considerably more audible. A lot of the
music is fairly relentless, and it's when they ease back a notch that
things work best, as on the aforementioned 'Little Secret', which is
as close as they get to the blues, and on the big ballad, 'Cold'.
The two weakest tracks are the ones where Bonamassa takes on the
vocals, with the Led Zep III sound of 'The Battle For Hadrian's Wall'
not really coming off, although he does better on 'An Ordinary Man',
where the band have a bash at some Bad Company. They also visit Led
Zep II for 'I Can See Your Spirit', but if you're looking for an out
and out rock classic then 'Smokestack Woman' overcomes its title with
ease. The best vocal is most definitely 'Cold', which sees Glenn
Hughes pulling out all the stops.
It's a more complete album than the debut, and for people starved of
Led Zep vibes, this will be manna from heaven."
review: Stuart A Hamilton
Black Country Communion 2 is available from the dpas online store, both as ltd edition digipak CD and double vinyl
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