Search - Brian Howe :: Tangled in Blue

On the lighter side

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 06/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tangled in Blue is the debut solo album from former Bad Company vocalist Brian Howe. It may be blasphemous to say this, but I enjoyed the Howe era Bad Company albums far more than the classic Paul Rodgers material. Howe has such a great voice that is perfect for the AOR/melodic rock genre, so his time with Bad Company was a match made in heaven.



As good as it is, Howe's solo album does not quite live up to expectations. For one thing, it's 90% ballads. Granted they are good ballads, and Howe pours his heart into them, but would it have killed him to let his band rock out a bit? A couple of "Walk through Fire" or "Holy Water" type songs would have helped tremendously. For another thing...actually that was my only complaint. Other than the fact that the album doesn't really rock, it's still a pretty good disc. Howe's voice sounds as good as ever, and the songs (slow as they are) are quite well written.



Tangled in Blue will probably disappoint fans looking for more of that Bad Company style rock, but will no doubt please AOR fans that enjoy lighter fare such as Hugo and Street Talk. The good news is that Howe is currently working on a follow up album that is supposed to be a much more rocking effort.



NOTE: This album was also released under a different title - Touch - that contains an additional song called "How It Could Have Been".

"

Excellent album, great for you romantics and Howe-itics

Justin Gaines | 01/09/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For all who may not recognize the name, Brian Howe is the former voice of Bad Company succeeding Paul Rodgers. We are all familiar with the Holy Water album. This was a very successful album with Brian belting out the hits such as 'Holy Water', 'If you Needed Somebody', 'Stranger, Stranger'. Have I got your attention? What a voice! The fact is, Brian is very talented as he write or co-wrote the vast majority of the Bad Company songs in that era (nothing against Bad Company, they're great as well as the reason I became familiar with Brian Howe). Track 6(Here They Come Again)is great! Track 7(All I Want Is You) is another star. Great Job, Brian Howe! Where's the airplay, America?!! Show Brian some love!!! Keep 'em coming, Brian, the Howe-Thomas team is the bomb!"