Rough & Tumble
Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 11/17/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ten years after her debut, Ottawa native Sue Foley rocks out with a great blues album. "I know you & your friends hang out downtown at the Twist & Shout," she opens on the title track with Richard Bell's pulsing organ cutting the groove deep. Colin Linden whose "Big Mouth" & "Raised by Wolves" CDs are classic lends his slide guitar to "Vertigo Blues" with Sue's voice mixed like Janis Joplin wailing from the grave, "No use in crying, no use in being alone, no use in dying out on your own." My favorite track is "Love Disease" whose backbeat with Bryan Owings going crazy on drums makes me hit the repeat button. "Two Bluebirds" is a midtempo electric blues. Foley's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Stupid Girl" is a no-holes-barred rockfest homage to her early rock heroes. "Let It Go" has a pretty melody. "I've been thinking of you, and I've been feeling so blue," Sue opens on "Every Hour" which has the feel of a classic torch blues. Sounding like Lucinda Williams who receives a credit of thanks on the CD, "Baby Where Are You?" is about as soft as Foley gets on this set. "Get Yourself Together" has addictive guitar parts on this radio-friendly piece. Sue gives Etta James' "Roll With Me Henry" a Bluesbrakers kind of treatment. The traditional "Down the Big Road Blues" gets an unplugged treatment with Colin Linden on dobro. The CD concludes with the rave rocker "Gotta Keep Moving." WTAI is a hot set with strong blues rock tracks. Don't miss it!"
SUE ROCKS!
Avalon Don | Huntington Beach, California United States | 03/14/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While many of the other contemporary female Blues artists in 2002 were making safe middle of the road releases, leave it to Sue Foley and producer Colin Linden to push the envelope. Following her most balenced album on "Love Comin' Down", Foley delivers a driving guitar based project which hasn't been heard by this lady since her early years on the Antone label. The difference now is Foley is a very good singer and the songs are much more varied. On "Where The Action Is", Sue pays somewhat of a homage to her heroes - The Rolling Stones. Think of "It's Only Rock And Roll" with a little more edge minus the filler. The standout cut is "Get Yourself Together" with its "Gimme Shelter" like guitar riffs. The rest of the songs are Blues based Rock without the headache factor. With her recent releases on the Shanachie label, Foley is now getting her just due as a W.C. Handy 2003 nominee for " Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year". "Where The Action Is" is a culmination of talented musician coming of age."