[.ca] Cedar Grove

Look to other artist for real Blues:
Sadly this is the type of stuff that passes as blues in Australia. Slick and over produced pop music pretending to be blues. Having been a blues fan for years now I am very frustrated with albums like this, you are always left felling let down. One does not find a direct and honest form of expression, as one finds with the music of say Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House and other blues greats, but rather music that is set to show-off a person and heavily padded to give that "full sound". Having seen Mr Lang live I can only say there are far better Blues singers and players out there. I would suggest that you look at the many great bluesman Amazon has to offer like, Muddy Waters, Robert Pete Williams, Fred Mcdowell eta. and see what I mean.

Look to other artist for real Blues:
Sadly this is the type of stuff that passes as blues in Australia. Slick and over produced pop music pretending to be blues. Having been a blues fan for years now I am very frustrated with albums like this, you are always left feeling let down. One does not find a direct and honest form of expression, as one finds with the music of say Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House and other blues greats, but rather music that is set to show-off a person and heavily padded to give that "full sound". Having seen Mr Lang live I can only say there are far better Blues singers and players out there. I would suggest that you look at the many great bluesman Amazon has to offer like, Muddy Waters, Robert Pete Williams, Fred Mcdowell eta. and see what I mean.

Lang is fresh:
Jeff Lang gives a fresh and personal voice to the blues. Another reviewer complains that he isn't Son House or Robert Johnson and so forth. Yeah, this is what... 60 years later? A blues fan for many years, I get tired of guys that can't look beyond their dusty old records and nostalgia for an era that they didn't live in and perhaps didn't quite exist. Son House is fine, but he had limited musical talent. Jeff is not only technically talented, he brings a fresh personal message into a style that has too long suffered from a lack of innovation.

Do NOT pass this by!!!:
Anyone who does not find this outrageously outstanding has got their head in the sand or is deaf. I've seen Jeff live and listened repeatedly to all his cd's. He's a virtuoso, he's exttreamly talented, He is cutting edge> I should know. I'm a mobile DJ specializing in blues with over 3000 blues cd's. Miike Macy.

A Tale Of 2 Albums:
I've had this album for around 4 months now, and after listening to it several times, I have no doubt that Jeff Lang is a very talented guitar player. As a song writer, however, there is room for improvement. I'm no hard-core "blues fan", so I won't try to make any observations on that front. But I do know good music when I hear it, and for at least half of an album, Jeff Lang puts on quite a show. His ability to fashion catchy guitar riffs is wonderful, and listening to his fingers manipulate the strings is quite a pleasure. I would even go so far as to lable some of the songs "brilliant", though none of them will be remembered ten years from now. That being said, it seems at times on the CD that Jeff gets tired of being creative, and settles for 4 minutes of clichéd fluff, solely for the purpose of having something to play. Another major weakness of the album is Jeff's lack of lyrical talent. More than one song on the album is ruined by his attempt at social commentary, which somehow comes off as too melodramatic (read: cheesy). With a voice that is adequate, if not remarkable, Jeff Lang puts together an album that is at least worth a listen. I would definitely recommend buying the CD, if you can get it used. My only regret is that I paid $14 for it. I made MP3s of 6 of the songs and threw the CD on the back of the shelf to colletct dust. It just wasn't worth taking up the space in my changer.

• Prepare Me Well
• Is She Slipping
• Too Easy to Kill
• Cedar Grove
• Bateman's Bay
• Broken One More Time
• Always Moving
• Cutthroat
• We Don't Ask
• Throw It All
• Call Letter Blues