With his fifth studio release renowned English blues vocalist and and harmonica player Will Wilde delivers the goods on 'Blues is Still Alive'.
Opening with the bombastic ‘Blues is Still Alive’ the album immediately captures the attention of the listener and sets up the quality of the music to come. Wilde is joined on the title track by Blues guitar legend Walter Trout on a song that highlights the timeless spirit of the genre, and with Wilde’s exceptional lyrics highlighting poverty and discord within today’s society it is very much a song full of relevance for the 21st century.
‘Wild Man’ follows and lightens the tone with a Chicago blues-based romp featuring some blinding harmonica playing from Wilde as he sings his heart out on a touring-based song that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Speaking about the album, Wilde says:
I think ‘Blues Is Still Alive’ is my finest work to date. When I set out to write these songs, I wanted to create an album of straight-up blues material but with the same intensity you’d find on a Walter Trout or Gary Moore blues album. I think we’ve achieved that. To have Walter as a guest on the record was a dream come true. With everything that’s going on in the world right now, the blues is just as relevant as it’s ever been.
Wilde has developed his own style that finds influence in the Chicago blues and classic rock eras. His harmonica playing style is enhanced by his own ‘Wilde Tuning’ that allows him to hit higher notes and when played through a special overdrive pedal, has led to comparisons with the guitar work of Jimi Hendrix. This comparison is very noticeable on the classic slow blues of ‘Broken Dream Blues’, where Wilde’s harmonica appears to screech from the bottom of his soul.
Cleverly Wilde doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel with ‘Blues Is Still Alive’, but what he does incredibly well here is re-invigorate it with passion, power and well crafted songs.