The Blasters Albums (8)
What The Critics Say
While the Blasters called it quits in 1986 after Hard Line failed to break through to the mass audience, it was only a few years later that lead singer Phil Alvin brought the band back, though without the participation of his kid brother, Dave Alvin, who played guitar with the Blasters and wrote their most memorable songs. For years, Phil Alvin promised to take the Blasters back to the studio, and in 2004 a new Blasters album finally appeared, 4-11-44. One spin confirms that this edition of the band can play up a storm, and that Phil's passionate roadhouse vocals are as exciting as they've ever been; Keith Wyatt is, if anything, a stronger picker than Dave Alvin, the rhythm section cooks with gas, and the results will get the party started with soul fire and real rock drive. But if you're a fan of the Blasters, it's hard to not feel as if something is missing on 4-11-44. When the Blasters started out, they were practically the only game in town for this sort of charged-up blues and retro-rock wailing; these days, there are a number of worthwhile bands flying the flag for this sort of music, and while the Blasters are still better than most of them, the guys on 4-11-44 don't sound as special as the band that cut American Music or The Blasters. There was an almost ministerial fervor to the group's original recordings, as if they needed to wake up an audience to a musical tradition that was on the verge of dying out; 4-11-44, on the other hand, sounds like a great roadhouse band rocking on out, but there isn't nearly as much force behind it. It doesn't help that the set list isn't nearly as interesting as the Blasters' previous albums; while there are two new Phil Alvin originals, including the great title song, the truth is he can't write with the same impact as his brother, and while the covers are all great songs, they don't have the same resonance as the classic obscurities the old band made its bread and butter. 4-11-44 is a good album, and it does nothing to tarnish the Blasters' name, but it just doesn't bear the same weight and move with the same fervor as the original band's catalog, and in this case these small details really do make all the difference. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'The Blasters Live: Going Home'
Release Date 2/24/2004
Tracks 16
Label Sony
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In 2002, the original lineup of the Blasters -- vocalist and guitarist Phil Alvin, guitarist Dave Alvin, drummer Bill Bateman, and bassist John Bazz -- reunited to play a few shows to celebrate the release of a retrospective compilation of their recordings for Slash Records. In the grand tradition of giving the public what they want, a year after the original set of five shows had come and gone the reunited Blasters were still playing gigs for their loyal fans, and when Dave Alvin decided to pull the plug on the reunion in August of 2003, he did so in style with a special gig featuring a handful of special guests -- Chicago blues harp master Billy Boy Arnold, rockabilly legend Sonny Burgess, and members of two classic L.A. doo wop groups, the Calvanes and the Medallions. A mobile recording truck and a video crew were on hand to preserve the show for the ages, and the results have been released in both audio and video form as The Blasters Live: Going Home. The CD version has the burden of competing with an earlier live album from the first set of reunion gigs, Trouble Bound, but while Trouble Bound has a slightly higher stomp factor, Going Home finds the band in tighter and leaner form, with pianist Gene Taylor getting a greater chance to strut his stuff and the guests allowing the Blasters to show off the full range of their chops and their influences. Ultimately, both albums document one of America's greatest roots rock bands in its natural environment, on-stage in front of an appreciative audience, and like Trouble Bound, Going Home shows the passage of time hasn't dimmed the Blasters' ability to make with the hard rockin' boogie that made "American music" the stuff of legend around the world. If you dig the Blasters at all, you'll want to hear both discs...and after you do, you'll hope that the Alvin brothers can patch up their differences long enough to take their show on the road again sometime soon. It's mighty fine stuff. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While the original lineup of the Blasters made more than their share of great records, their rocket-powered blend of rockabilly, blues, country, and any anything else that sounds good in a roadhouse on a Saturday night was always meant to be experienced in person, live and loud. However, the Blasters' sole live release, the six-song EP Over There: Live at the Venue, London, simply lacked the space to communicate the many good things the group could do in front of an audience. Fortunately, in the spring of 2002 the original Blasters lineup -- Phil Alvin on guitar and vocals, Dave Alvin on lead guitar, John Bazz on bass, and Bill Bateman on drums -- reassembled for a handful of California shows to promote the retrospective release Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings (1981-1985), and someone had the good sense to record their shows at the Hollywood House of Blues. Trouble Bound (in which the foursome are joined by pianist Gene Taylor, who joined the group shortly before they cut The Blasters in 1981) doesn't exactly break any new ground for the Blasters, but it sure does a hell of a job of capturing what they do best -- even the relatively understated numbers like "Help You Dream" and "Too Tired" sizzle with energy, and when they open up the throttle on "Long White Cadillac," "So Long Baby Goodbye," and "Marie, Marie," they sound muscular, impassioned, and joyously alive. Engineer Mark Linett does a great job of getting the band's sound on tape with a very live ambience that still sounds tight and punchy, and the dedication to friend, influence, and sometime bandmate Lee Allen is a true sign of class. In short, Trouble Bound is the great live album this great live band has long deserved, and the fact that they cut it 16 years after they last shared a stage together simply proves that the right ingredients are what make a great recipe work. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Somehow, the Blasters could never make up their minds whether they were neo or retro, whether they wanted to expand beyond their influences or just copy them. By the end of this confused, if earnest collection, they've covered John Mellencamp and declared "Rock and Roll Will Stand." It did, but the Blasters did not. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
An album of originals by Dave Alvin, accompanied by the expanded lineup that included Steve Berlin and Lee Allen on sax, this is prime-time vintage Blasters. Opening with the crowd-pleasing love song "Red Rose," moving through "Barefoot Rock" (no doubt inspired by Jimmy McCracklin's "Georgia Slop," later covered by Los Lobos), on to one of Alvin's finest hours of songwriting with "Long White Cadillac" (made famous by Dwight Yoakam), and winding down with "Boomtown," the Blasters are effective at retracing and reflecting the concerns of the common man and woman -- a celebration of Americana, careful never to wallow in nostalgia. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
'Over There: Live at the Venue, London'
Release Date 1/1/1982
Tracks 6
Label Slash
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What The Critics Say
A six-song EP recorded live at the Venue in London on May 22, 1982. Phil Alvin covers his personal god, Jerry Lee Lewis, with "High School Confidential," while brother Dave picks to his heart's delight. Makes you wish you were there. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
You might have thought the Blasters had been in suspended animation for 25 years when their major-label debut turned up in late 1981 sounding for all the world like something cut in the Sun Studios in Memphis in 1956. Dave Alvin knew all the licks and his brother Phil had the R&B/country wail down. Best of all, you couldn't tell the oldies from Dave's newly written classics. Welcome to the birth of rock & roll, all over again. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Right from the beginning, with Dave Alvin's title song, the Blasters made their statement, that basic rock & roll was as contemporary in 1980 as it had been in the mid-'50s. The other 12 tracks, which mixed Dave and Phil Alvin originals with covers like "I Wish You Would" and "Never No More Blues," reiterated the opening remark, re-creating the feel of a biker bar after a couple of tall ones. Actually, the Blasters didn't have much to say beyond this record, of which only a couple of thousand copies were pressed, but they went on to a few years with Warner Bros. [In the late '90s, the debut was released on CD with six bonus tracks, all covers, and that statement seemed just as valid as it had at first.] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
