FIVE HORSE JOHNSON
''THE TAKING OF BLACK HEART''
JANUARY 22 2013
45:52
1 The Job
Five Horse Johnson 4:39
2 Keep on Diggin'
Five Horse Johnson 5:00
3 Black Heart Baby
Five Horse Johnson 2:28
4 Mexico
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:12
5 Beating in My Hand
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 3:04
6 Quick on the Trigger
Five Horse Johnson 3:40
7 Smash & Grab
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 3:41
8 Hangin' Tree
Five Horse Johnson/3:37
9 You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Talk About It) 6:10
10 Shoot My Way Out
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:28
11 Die in the River
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:53
Brad Coffin /Guitar, Vocals
Phil Durr /Guitar
Jean-Paul Gaster /Drums
Eric Oblander /Harp, Vocals
Steve Smith /Bass
Robin Zander /Vocals
REVIEW/AMG
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Released in January 2013, The Taking of Black Heart literally sees retro-rock survivors Five Horse Johnson "galloping" back into action -- or at least that's the rhythmic feel of the album's opening number, "The Job," the image gracing its cover art, etc. Given all they've been through (none of it more traumatizing than frontman Eric Oblander suffering a stroke!), few would expect the group to come riding in to rescue classic rock from a fate worse than death (irrelevance), especially some six years removed from their last long-player's release. But as song after song rolls by, oftentimes driven by bluesier and rootsier songwriting ethics than 5HJ's ever displayed before, hope does spring eternal -- amen, bruvvers and sistahs, alright. Wailing harmonica and slippery slide guitars wrap themselves round and round laid-back groovers ("Keep on Diggin'," "Smash & Grab," "Die in the River") and foot-stomping bruisers alike ("Black Heart Baby," "Shoot My Way Out"), thereby luring patrons left and right into 5HJ's juke joint -- and the first shot of canned heat is on them. Heck, and if any additional credibility were needed, get a load of Cheap Trick's Robin Zander taking over the mike stand for the album's funkiest, most euphoric moment in "You're My Girl" -- Otis Redding surely would approve. Perhaps more than any other track, the latter also highlights Five Horse Johnson's enduring faith and pure joy in playing rock & roll, regardless of how many paying customers show up on any given night. They're a band's band, at the end of the day: playing to play -- and The Taking of Black Heart is therefore a welcome return, bringing good news to the rock & roll faithful everywhere.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Charles Spano
Five Horse Johnson comes straight out of Toledo, OH, with big riff, get down, rootsy, middle American rock & roll that takes acid blues and Led Zeppelin and mixes in influences like the Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, and ZZ Top.
The band -- made up of Eric Oblander on harps and vocals, Brad Coffin on guitar, Steve Smith on bass, and Mike Alonso on drums -- got together in 1995 and began opening for acts like War, Southern Culture on the Skids, Atomic Bitchwax, the Queens of the Stone Age, and R.L. Burnside. In 1998, they released Double Down. The critically acclaimed Fat Black Pussycat followed in 1999 and The No. 6 Dance came out on Small Stone Records in 2001.
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''THE TAKING OF BLACK HEART''
JANUARY 22 2013
45:52
1 The Job
Five Horse Johnson 4:39
2 Keep on Diggin'
Five Horse Johnson 5:00
3 Black Heart Baby
Five Horse Johnson 2:28
4 Mexico
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:12
5 Beating in My Hand
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 3:04
6 Quick on the Trigger
Five Horse Johnson 3:40
7 Smash & Grab
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 3:41
8 Hangin' Tree
Five Horse Johnson/3:37
9 You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Talk About It) 6:10
10 Shoot My Way Out
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:28
11 Die in the River
Five Horse Johnson / Eric Miller 4:53
Brad Coffin /Guitar, Vocals
Phil Durr /Guitar
Jean-Paul Gaster /Drums
Eric Oblander /Harp, Vocals
Steve Smith /Bass
Robin Zander /Vocals
REVIEW/AMG
by Eduardo Rivadavia
Released in January 2013, The Taking of Black Heart literally sees retro-rock survivors Five Horse Johnson "galloping" back into action -- or at least that's the rhythmic feel of the album's opening number, "The Job," the image gracing its cover art, etc. Given all they've been through (none of it more traumatizing than frontman Eric Oblander suffering a stroke!), few would expect the group to come riding in to rescue classic rock from a fate worse than death (irrelevance), especially some six years removed from their last long-player's release. But as song after song rolls by, oftentimes driven by bluesier and rootsier songwriting ethics than 5HJ's ever displayed before, hope does spring eternal -- amen, bruvvers and sistahs, alright. Wailing harmonica and slippery slide guitars wrap themselves round and round laid-back groovers ("Keep on Diggin'," "Smash & Grab," "Die in the River") and foot-stomping bruisers alike ("Black Heart Baby," "Shoot My Way Out"), thereby luring patrons left and right into 5HJ's juke joint -- and the first shot of canned heat is on them. Heck, and if any additional credibility were needed, get a load of Cheap Trick's Robin Zander taking over the mike stand for the album's funkiest, most euphoric moment in "You're My Girl" -- Otis Redding surely would approve. Perhaps more than any other track, the latter also highlights Five Horse Johnson's enduring faith and pure joy in playing rock & roll, regardless of how many paying customers show up on any given night. They're a band's band, at the end of the day: playing to play -- and The Taking of Black Heart is therefore a welcome return, bringing good news to the rock & roll faithful everywhere.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Charles Spano
Five Horse Johnson comes straight out of Toledo, OH, with big riff, get down, rootsy, middle American rock & roll that takes acid blues and Led Zeppelin and mixes in influences like the Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, and ZZ Top.
The band -- made up of Eric Oblander on harps and vocals, Brad Coffin on guitar, Steve Smith on bass, and Mike Alonso on drums -- got together in 1995 and began opening for acts like War, Southern Culture on the Skids, Atomic Bitchwax, the Queens of the Stone Age, and R.L. Burnside. In 1998, they released Double Down. The critically acclaimed Fat Black Pussycat followed in 1999 and The No. 6 Dance came out on Small Stone Records in 2001.
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