Search - Walter Trout, Radicals :: Go the Distance

TROUT KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER

Patrick Earley | Edmond, Oklahoma USA | 06/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I recently caught Walter Trout live at the Oklahoma City Blues Fest. He's a bonafied blues guitar master who deserves to be heard. Trout reeled off several intense guitar solos that night that were well over 10 minutes long. This guy is one busy guitar picker! His versatile and imanginative playing though, makes every song a new experience. Although it's hard to put down on a studio album what you get at a Trout live show, he comes close on "Go The Distance". All it took was one listen for me to get hooked on this. I think it's head and shoulders above anything he's ever done before. The songs here feature cooler arrangements and better songwriting than his previous efforts. Some of the prime cuts: "Outta Control", a nice rock and roller that features some nice bumpin' organ lines. This one really got everyone up dancing the night he performed it. "Ride Till I'm Satisified", which has a nice Stevie Ray rhythm to it. The title track "Go The Distance", a slower tune and a great showcase for a burnin' Trout solo. "Message In A Doorway" as well as "Faithful", features some very good B3 organ and piano playing by Bill Mason. "Bugle Billy" is a nice change of pace tearjerker about a fallen veteran, that features a beautiful smooth trumpet solo on the end of it, along with Trout's underrated soulful singing. I loved this one. I also like and can relate to the lyrics to "I Don't Want My MTV", where he sings about "everytime I watch MTV I feel like I'm really getting old, because they never play anything that seems to satisfy my soul". My favorite cut here with the hardest hitting blues grooves is "Gotta Leave This Town". Trout really tears up the aluminum on this one, and comes closest to duplicating his live show's solo. "Go The Distance" is Trout's best studio album to date. I also recommend his live cd, which is Trout at his very best."

Go the Distance... an Ride 'Till your Satisfied

Dominique Morrow | Las Vegas, NV United States | 09/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Singer-guitarist Walter Trout plays a mean blues-rock guitar in what is now a grand ole tradition in the style of Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gary Moore and the Allman Brothers (ultimately traced back to B.B. King, Albert King and Albert Collins and many other greats). He has a powerful yet smooth voice that in classic blues style trades off with guitar runs. The album is blues based, straying into rock and even a couple acoustic numbers.I read others reviews in this section that was critical of him for being unoriginal and mere technician. It is one thing to master the technique of blues runs but quite another thing to evoke the soul and feelings of the blues. Ultimately, the listener decides and I want to tell you that what he does works for me! I can't listen to this album without getting involved. Whether it' splaying air- guitar along with the CD (dangerous in traffic) or finding myself swept away and in a great mood with a smile on my face. Mr. Trout knows what the blues are all about. It's true that what he plays are very traditional blues- rock licks but damn he plays them so well! Someone should point out that many artist such as the Beatles, Clapton, Jimi Page, Van Halen start out imitating people that they admire, mastering the techniques and learning how to make it all work to temporarily take us of out of ourselves. These artists then go on to work out a distinctive style as they evolve. I hear in Walter Trout the same raw talent. I can't wait to hear where he going to take it?..I'm definitely going to "go the distance" with him.This is a kick-butt album with a lot of spirited energy and I'm going "to ride till I'm satisfied"?to paraphrase another one of his songs."

Powerful blues/rock album

Larry Wirgau | Haysville, KS USA | 05/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On a whim I went to the club that night to see who Walter Trout was and what he could do. I was amazed and I've listened to my share of blues bands. They did alot of the tunes on their new Go the Distance CD and if you feel that he lacks some artistry on the album....believe me, Walter is reigning it in to get it all to fit on this CD (13 songs!). This man can rip one solo after another...he has so much say on his guitar. True, he's not a Stevie Ray or a Hendrix but he has incorporated their style well. Some may feel he isn't as original as other noteworthy guitar players but I say give him some time. What he may seem to lack in originality he more than makes up for in his technical ability (he has the "pinky-wrapped-around-the-volume-knob whah effect down better than anyone I've heard). Another thing I noticed live was that he was running NO effects, just his 70's Fender Strat and Mesa Boogie amp and cabinet. All of what you hear comes out of that man's hands. That IS artistry my friends. If you have any love for the blues, you will feel the tug on your heart when he pours his heart out as he plays what he feels."