Search - Joanne Shaw Taylor :: Diamonds in the Dirt

JST delivers some of her finest guitar licks to date!

John Stracey | USA | 11/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Diamonds In The Dirt' is the second stunning album by spiraling blues star Joanne Shaw Taylor who is again given licence to thrill on her Fender Telecaster at Bessie Blue Studios in Tennessee with legendary producer Jim Gaines who records 10 new breathtaking original gems featuring Steve Potts on drums, Dave Smith on bass, Rick Steff on keyboards.



'Diamonds In The Dirt' captures Joanne Shaw Taylor on fire with a collection of love songs expressing her hopes and fears forged from crash and burn experiences on her journey through life since her widely acclaimed debut album White Sugar. Cue acoustic guitar and deep smoky vocals like the quiet before a storm on 'Can't Keep Living Like This' and wait for the whirlwind to follow that emanates straight from her scorching Fender Telecaster and thunderous rhythm section that simply blow you away! Nearly two years on from her last outing and this young lady needs to get a lot off her chest as she exorcises the past with 'Dead And Gone' and sings of finding "New life in this fight" on 'Same As It Ever Was' before moving into overdrive and telling of a brave new world on 'Jump That Train' that is a real bone shaker! 'Who Do You Love' delivers some her finest guitar licks to date leading into the title track 'Diamonds In The Dirt', a love song which brings her smoky voice to the fore that is winning awards like Best British Female Vocalist at the 2010 British Blues Awards and it's fair to say adding female musician and songwriter to that accolade wouldn't be far from the truth!



Joanne Shaw Taylor attributes the heavier sound on this album largely to her now living in Detroit and 'Let It Burn' and 'World On Fire' aptly demonstrate that influence rocking you to the core with the latter using a similar baseline to the chord structure found on 'Kiss The Ground Goodbye' off her previous album White Sugar. 'Lord Have Mercy' is perhaps the defining moment here though as Taylor presses the self destruct button crying out... "I'm going down so slow" and "It's hope that deserts me" while exploding into some of the heaviest virtuoso lead guitar we have come to witness from her yet, that may provide a clue as to which direction she is heading musically... amazing stuff! Having survived the storm... Taylor shows her acceptance of 'The World And It's Way' in a slow soulful tune that softly brings this session to a satisfying close.



'Diamonds In The Dirt' goes a long way to fulfilling the hype and expectation surrounding Joanne Shaw Taylor who continues to fascinate her audience by remaining natural and true to herself (which is part of her appeal), although one can't help but sense that the best is still to come and no doubt somewhere down the road she will make the cut and shine like the diamond she truly is... bring it on!

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