I waited on doing this post for a reason. I gave myself more spins than usual over a longer period of time. One close friend said there wasn't a loser on the album. 85% of the WORLD thinks this is an excellent release. But when BKP texted, "another incarnation of Bonnie Raitt," I was afraid I knew what he meant. I don't own any Bonnie Raitt because she traveled the "all-too-familiar" highway, you know, the safe road. That's what has happened here. Mama Tedeschi has grabbed the wheel and steered the car right down the center lane for safety (read: sales) reasons. It's the same problem I had with her solo career. As far as the Y chromosome component of the band name, his solo career never had a sales design applied, but his path, albeit off the trail, had a unsettling sameness of direction, great to see live, ho-hum on disc. When they combined camps for "Revelator", the results were tremendous. Now it's back to "safety on" position. "Too contrived" was one of my first notations. I even broke it apart into one and/or two track pieces to see if it sounded better..............nope.
Do not misunderstand......she sounds great. His guitar work is restrained yet effective. The songs are just....too perfect. Trucks stretches out just once late in the album. This is the song in a shortened, acoustic setting (the tour bus)...
Listen to that woman wail! Trust me, the studio version rocks. This is another video from the road, too, and it's the second keeper track...
Last, but not least, is the title song. When you add it all up, it comes out to about 30% worthy of staying in my vast musical inventory.
When I hear her sing, "I've got a Made Up Mind," I believe her and I'll bet that was the mindset for this album, too, her way. Bet she helped hubby make up his mind to quit the ABB. Might have had a hand in Warren Haynes quitting too, for that matter......
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