Best of the Best of the Best of the Blues
hyjyljyj | St. Louis, home of the Blues | 05/31/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Even though fewer than half the songs on the CD are Muddy Waters tunes, they are all done so well Paul Rodgers is to be forgiven for naming this CD after Muddy and calling it a tribute album. I could go off into mounds of hyperbole about how fantastic the blues guitar on this CD is, but it wouldn't do it justice. Jeff Beck rips his way through 3 or 4 of the tracks, and that right there is enough reason to buy this CD. You also get the likes of David Gilmour, Trevor Rabin, Bryan May, Slash, and yes, Jeff Beck, stretching out and having the time of their lives just playing the juiciest blues guitar licks this side of the swamp. The only one missing is Rick Derringer, but you can't have everything. (Where would you put it?) You can practically hear them grinning ear-to-ear with the delight of being able to play like this. Don't let those rock 'n roll names fool you--this is definitely an electric BLUES album. The solos are so tasty, you don't need to eat. This CD has been in my changer for literally MONTHS. That is saying something. Paul Rodgers' vocals are right on target throughout, and his original title track is an instant blues classic. The musicianship, the song choice, the solos, the production, mixing, everything about this CD just absolutely ROCKS. I gave it five stars--I'd give it ten if the software could handle it.Did I mention Jeff Beck? GOD that guitar smokes"