BLUES PILLS - Blues Pills

Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Classic Rock | Heft: Jahrgang 2014, eclipsed Nr. 162 / 7-8-2014 | VÖ-Jahr: 2014 | Wertung: 8.5/10, Album des Monats | Label: Nuclear Blast | Autor: ML


"Whenever he took pills" was the name of a US television series that caused a sensation in the USA in 1967 as "Mr. Terrific" and from 1970 with a German title on ZDF. The parents of the four Blues Pills probably also grew up with Stanley Beamish, who got superpowers from pills. The period in which this series flickered across the screens can confidently be described as the musical reference period of the young band. Even the cover, a picture by psychedelic art painter Marijke Koger-Dunham, dates from the sixties. And thanks to the songs presented on this debut, one is tempted to suspect superpowers even with the four Blues Pills musicians. Although the bluesy rock subgenre has developed particularly splendidly and colourfully in recent years, the Swedish-American-French band still occupies a special position. With plenty of support tours and festival shows, she has almost established herself in Europe, and her self-produced EPs have always underpinned the excellent concert impression. The group was aware that they had put some very special tracks on these, so they recorded the strongest of them again for the longplayer under optimal studio conditions with producer Don Alsterberg (Graveyard). Good, because "Black Smoke" and her parade number "Devil Man" just belong on this business card. And one such has become "Blues Pills": a very special recommendation from Blues Pills, an album to kneel down on! Elin Larsson is the new Inga hull with a touch of Steve Marriott and Patti Smith in the voice. And guitarist Dorian Sorriaux must have borne the name Rainer Baumann in an earlier life. Blues Pills are the new Frumpy (without organ)! They made a mistake with Chubby Checker's cover song "Gypsy" alone, they should have dared to have a more stylistically confident approach to Frumpy's "How The Gipsy Was Born". But that's a hell of a lot of whining. And the band achieves this virtually from a standing start with "High Class Woman": The opener has the force of a hurricane and is at the same time pleasantly sensitive in the middle section. This is the high art of the Led Zeppelin School. The bouncer "Little Sun" finishes bluesy-balladesk with Blackmore-like guitar playing, which reminds of the Deep Purple and Rainbow songs "Soldier Of Fortune" and "Temple Of The King", a big album. Is this the birth of a superstar band? It's a possibility. But one thing is certain: No one can take this outstanding work away from us and Blues Pills.

Top Track: High Class Woman

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