Search - Chris Rea :: Blue Guitars (W/Dvd)

Farewell to a Genius

Joan Whittaker | Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK | 10/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must admit I was a bit apprehensive when I heard that Chris Rea was to issue an 11 CD set. I did not see how anyone could undertake such a huge project and hope that it would be up to his usual standard. I really need not have feared. Since receiving my copy of Blue Guitars at the beginning of the week I have listened to all 11 discs and have yet to find a bad one. All the CD's are named for a particular type of blues and I have to say that they are all to a greater or lesser degree evocative of the genre they are named for.



If this set had been issued by somebody new to the music scene, then all the usual pundits would be lauding him. For Chris Rea, it is his farewell and a very poignant farewell it is. If he had never issued anything else, then this would stand as a brilliant body of work. Taken together with all the albums issued over the last 25 years, then it is outstanding.



If you have never really listened to Chris Rea, then this is an opportunity to discern why he has had a faithful following over the years and why we have all looked forward eagerly to each new release.



Thanks for the music Chris - we will not forget the pleasure you have given us and look forward to any releases with your new band Fireflies.

"

ARROGANT AND UNIQUE

A.J.H. Woodcount | 02/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wich popmusician would have the idiot idea to bring out 11 albums and a dvd, with brand new music on them? Why would anybody bother to listen to that much music of one artist? A lot of cd's are boring within 60 minutes, and there's so much more good music being made on this planet.



Chris Rea obviously had that idiot idea, and he had some thoughts about the blues too. A fatal and selfoverating combination, I would expect. Chris Rea has made some albums in the past that were a bit boring. But the high level of his music on The Blue Jukebox, made me think that this man was doing something right. Could this album be any good?



I knew Rea is a pretty good guitar player, who plays a mean slide. I already liked his voice. I liked the good popmusic on for instance Shamrock Diaries. But is anybody capable of filling that many cd's with blues, with his own personal style and voice without falling into an irritating form of narcism?



I also had my doubts about the originality of an album with all these different styles of blues, done so many times before.



For the reasons that no one in pophistory had pulled this off before, my strong believe in the power of the blues and pure fascination for someone's intension to do such an outrageous project, I decided to buy the box.



And, by the allmighty Thor, towering high above us, this music is allright. This band is tight. This man can play.

Each album has a period or region in the blues as a starting point. What Rea does not do is take the blues in a riged way, but he does things with it. Sometimes he very much sticks to the original blues of that period, but you can also hear a popblues-variation very similar to older music of Chris Rea. Always played with the instruments of the period or region of the cd.



The music sounds pretty relaxed, but is also very tight. Altough most of the work may have been done by Rea himself, the reason why the album sounds good has everything to do with the band. Essence of the blues naturally is the rhythm. A lot of blues done by popmusicians don't really sound like blues, tough the right chords etc. are used. But a real bluesband always has something more to offer. His band is a real bluesband and Chris Rea has become what every older musician should become: a bluesman. He proves it with 11 cd's full of blues! This kind of arrogance has to be rewarded.



FJB/O!-music 2006"

The beginning of a journey

J. Moore | Grenada, MS United States | 02/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chris Rea is a musician's musician - in other words, musicians recognize him for much more than a few hit songs and a tasty slide guitar. He has the heart of an artist and something even more important - INTEGRITY. I have just received "Blue Guitars" and have barely had time to listen to but a few tracks. I began by watching the DVD which only whetted my appetite to immerse myself, over time, in the whole project. What is immediately apparent is that Rea has not shirked his responsibility to be true to his own musical vision and also to the expectation of his fans who have come to expect exemplarary musicianship as well as audio excellence. A sample if somewhat cursory listening has confirmed my suspicions. "Blue Guitars" is a work of mammoth proportions and emotional depth. I fully intend to update this review over time as I am sure this is a journey that is going to take a while."