Search - Kenny Neal :: One Step Closer

Kenny Neal's third Telarc album is his most diverse yet

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 07/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not a blues record per se, "One Step Closer" mixes blues, R&B, soul, folk and rock n' roll, and T-Bone Wolk's mandolin and the acoustic violin of Mary Jo Carlsen add a rootsy folk-like atmosphere on several songs.

But Kenny Neal still sings like he is singing the blues. His voice is getting rougher and grittier with every new release, but it still retains its wonderful flexibility and soulfulness. To me, he has evolved into one of the best contemporary American blues and/or rock singers...he is that good.



And "One Step Closer" is really good as well. Unlike Neal's previous albums it relies very heavily on covers...only two of these twelve songs are written or co-written by Kenny Neal himself, and that worries me a bit. His songwriting skills used to be one of his biggest assets, but here you only find one solo composition from his hand...and it's not even all that great. Hopefully he hasn't spent his muse.



Still, these are generally very well chosen covers. The opener, "No More One More Chance", is the kind of blues-rock-soul fusion which Neal himself used to write, and he does very well by John Hiatt on an acoustic "Lovers Will".

Other highlights include the soulful "One Step Closer To The Blues", the blues "Back Door Tipper", and most notably a magnificent rendition of Bob Dylan's and Helena Spring's soulful slow rock number "Walk Out In The Rain", which was originally written for Eric Clapton. Neal's expressive voice is perfect for that song, and his is by far the best and grittiest version ever recorded. (Dylan never recorded it himself.)



I could have done without a remake of Sonny Landreth's "Congo Square", and a couple of other songs don't hold up too well either, but most of what's here is very good. I only wish Kenny Neal would have penned a few more songs himself.

If you're new to Raful Neal's son Kenny, I'd start with his best Alligator album, "Hoodoo Moon", but fans will definitely want this one in their collection as well. It's just about as good as his previous Telarc record, "What You Got", and better than his first, "Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain"."