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Steve Miller found his lost guitar

Michael Giersher | Royal Palm Beach, FL United States | 07/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing Miller's forgettable early 80's efforts, "Abracadabra" and "Italian X Rays" in which he delved into unimaginative synthesizer oriented new-wave and made a fool of himself, well, I was apprehensive about this one also - until I heard it. What a pleasant surprise! Miller obviously found his guitar and decided to make some REAL music. As good as any of his best efforts from the '60s and '70s, this is an extremely varied album in which he lays down some great pop/rock tunes, guitar instrumentals, and wonderful remakes of classic blues songs. The first song on the album, "Nobody But You Baby" is the only weak one, with a forced quality reminiscent of the stuff from his previous two albums. "I Want To Make The World Turn Around" is beautiful, with saxophone playing by Kenny G, along with nice guitar parts. However, on the CD version (as opposed to the original LP), parts of this song have been drastically remixed with new keyboard and guitar arrangements added in, and the sax somewhat de-emphasized in areas. It's okay, but I'm not sure why it was done. Miller can really play some hot guitar when he wants to, which is obvious on instrumentals such as "Slinky" or "Maelstrom". And Miller's remake of Jimmy Reed's "Caress Me Baby" would easily make Clapton or Stevie stand up and gape. One of Miller's best albums."

Very Nice Blues Outing!

deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 10/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Living In The 20th Century" marks Steve Miller's only true foray into the blues during his three decades of music. "20th Century" is a dedication by Miller to the memory of Jimmy Reed. On the disc Miller pens five originals and cover's three Reed tunes as well as one from Willie Dixon, Luther Dixon and Greg Douglass. The disc clocks in at a very abbreviated 37 minutes but, given the quality of the materials here, it's well worth the purchase. Miller enlists a host of musicians to help in the dedication including, harpist James Cotton who performs on Miller's "Behind The Barn", smooth jazzier Kenny G on "I Want To Make The World Turn Around", bassist Lonnie Turner on "Maelstrom" and Norton Buffalo's first appearance before formally joining the band on "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby". This is one of those rare, unexpected gems, from a stand out performer noted mainly for his pop flavored tunes."

Living in the right century

chumley@ifreedom.com | northern california | 06/15/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"an excellent example of the steve miller bands continuing effort to bring all genres of music to every new generation of listeners. My kids really enjoyed it also. Cant do much better than "behind the barn", or "big boss man". And the title track is very catchy. A great addition to your cd collection."