Search - Robert Randolph & The Family Band :: We Walk This Road

T Bone Burnett as Producer = SLOW RR album

J. Dawson | 06/23/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Man...I was really excited to get this yesterday and throw it into my car's CD player and jam while I was driving around, but that didn't happen at all. After every song, I kept saying "maybe the next track is the up-beat song" all the way up to the end of the album. All of the prior RR albums have had several songs that you can tap your feet and nod your head to, but not this one. It's still good....but nothing like the prior stuff. Just a bunch of slow songs. I hope the band doesn't add a lot of these songs to their tour song list, because it will really take away from the exciting RR live show, which I've seen twice.



Overall, a good album/3 stars. I've listened to the entire album 3 times. Just disappointed that this album seemed very slow and unenergetic (to me). I was hoping for another classic RR album to enjoy listening to, but this one will be at the bottom of my CD pile for a good long while. I wish I had got the new live Derek Trucks Band CD instead :)"

Remember, it's a studio album

J. S. Wegman | Santa Clara, CA USA | 06/27/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is sure to get negative reviews from people who consider themselves die-hard RRFB fans, the people who travel for miles and miles to see their electric performances; I am one of those people who has literally traveled thousands of miles to see them in concert. I also understand what makes a RRFB show unique. The band has an energy that is infectious, they have maybe the funkiest rhythm section on tour today, and a legitimate pedal steel virtuoso in the head man himself. And it's an energy that is impossible to bottle in the studio. They've tried twice before, with very "meh" results. Which is why I'm glad they've made a real studio album this time. I think they've realized after "Unclassified" and "Colorblind" that the studio is not equipped to translate their live energy. Instead, they've taken a good, hard look at their gospel and blues roots and added their own interpretations to some really classic songs. You're not going to pop this CD in at a party, and you're not going to play this in your car. This CD was put together so that you and a couple of buddies can sit around, drink some fine oat sodas, and talk about music. Robert Randolph has really matured on this album. He knows when to lay back and be a part of the song, without having to "be" the song. Nevertheless, there are still some jaw-dropping solos interspersed here and there. I also found the idea of sprinkling the old blues segues in throughout the album. It definitely works for this project. I hope that RRFB starts putting out a lot of their live stuff, as I think they'd win a lot of fans that way, but at the same time, if they're going to be putting out studio albums as well, this is the kind of material they should be striving to put together."

Robert Randolph and T Bone Burnett Deliver An Incredible Pro

Rick Raymo | NorEaster | 06/28/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The wonderful thing about Robert Randolph is his ongoing willingness to leap from ledge to ledge as part of his musical platform efforts.

There is Live at the Wetlands, Unclassified, and Colorblind in the past... each feeling like a wholly different experience from the same ever-improving-and-amazing-band.

With each album there has been a divergence and a growth.

We Walk This Road--takes you by the hand and walks you through interpretations of music that existed in the sixty or so years following the Civil War and does so in a way that could make my young son dance and my older dad do the same while reminding us of what has gone before.



Combining Robert Randolph with multi-Grammy producer, songwriter, and musician... T Bone Burnett was a stroke of sheer genius.



You can hear that every facet of the music is Robert Randolph and the Family Band--and yet--you are deeded production values that enhance every aspect of the album from the range of the record being Audiophile Quality to the care taken to bring every nuance to the front.



The whole record is stellar but--there are a few even more exceptional and blindingly beautiful tunes in the midst of all the joy that this album drives through your music player of choice.



*I'm Not Listening, *Don't Change, *Walk Don't Walk, *If I Had My Way, and even John Lennon's *I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama are clear hits on the hoof.



More, like the Aretha Franklin cover of *RESPECT from the Stax hit by Otis Redding, or Eddie Cochran's *Summertime Blues covered by The Who, or The Blind Boys' *Way Down in the Hole redone by Tom Waits, or C.C.R.'s *Proud Mary as done by Ike and Tina Turner--*I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama is now and forever on the list of those killer songs done better as cover tunes than the originators could have imagined. This production (with kind permission and royalties) steals and peddles (steel peddles) a version that takes it away from Lennon for good.



Whether in the Car, on a good set of headphones, at home on mono-amps and an amazing D to A converter, or on a portable audio player--this album carries the day.



It is also a perfect reference quality bit of audio to take with you when you go shopping for a new piece of audio equipment--because T Bone knows The Code to great music and Robert Randolph and the Family Band just keep delivering.



This one is a top-ten rotation for life album."