Bluesheart

Although his name may not exactly be on the tip of the tongue of every blues-rock aficionado, Miller Anderson has certainly been out and about for the past few decades, playing with some of rock's biggest names (T. Rex, Mick Taylor, Donovan, Deep Purple, etc.). But as evidenced by the title of his 2007 release (and the music included within), Bluesheart, Anderson's true love is the blues -- a style he offers up throughout the album. And in addition to supplying some fine and tasty blues licks, Anderson also possesses a fine voice, handling all lead vocals to boot. With the more popular blues-rock artists becoming more and more homogenized sounding come the early 21st century, it's reassuring to hear an old-timer sticking to the way the blues was supposed to be played in the first place. Stripped down to sound like Anderson is in the same room as you, you can't go wrong with such bluesy ditties as "Fallin' Back into the Blue," "Little Man Dancing," a cover of "House of the Risin' Sun," and "Runnin' Blues," the latter featuring ex-Deep Purple organist Jon Lord. Real blues music is about leaving in all the rough edges (something all those young whippersnappers seem to have forgotten about), a guideline that Miller Anderson certainly still lives by, as evidenced throughout Bluesheart. ~ Greg Prato|