WALTER TROUT – Ordinary Madness (2020)
It would seem all but impossible for an artist to produce an album that sounds original and inspired on their 29th attempt, but that is exactly what WALTER TROUT achieves on his new album ”Ordinary Madness”.
Recorded at Robbie Krieger’s studio, the eleven tracks share common themes of time, mortality, and love, all while managing to sound vastly different from one another. There’s stupendous songs from crushingly hard rockers, midtempo blues rock tunes to a powerful ballad.
A nice texture to this album is the use of Hammond organ, coupled with Trout’s guitar blistering at his best, with fine vocals and stunning solos.
Walter Trout has had an extraordinary 2015-2020 period musically following his dramatic health recovery; and although he is aware that he’s “runnin’ out of time” (“The Sun Is Going Down”) and that he’s “gonna hit the wall” (“Final Curtain Call”), he makes it clear once again, with this terrific album, that whatever “ordinary madness” (title song) hides in his heart and mind, he will not give up.
There’s a range of sounds here, from slow blues to blues-rock, to rock in various tempos, including one ’70s-style soft-rock love ballad (“Heaven in Your Eyes”), which happens to be gorgeous and among the best I’ve ever heard in this genre.
A favorite is the atmospheric, extremely moving “All Out of Tears” (written by Walter with Teeny Turner), dedicated to the memory of Teeny’s late son Boston Westbrook, a standout here. Also the strong, propulsive funky blues-rocker “Make It Right” draws your attention in a major way as well.
The humble and sincere confessional ballad “My Foolish Pride” is another Trout gem. It’s followed by the captivating “Heartland,” the simple tale of a girl who is desperate to escape the constricted world of her nowhere small town. This could have been a big hit on FM rock radio circa 1984.
It’s hard not to like and admire Walter Trout and his prodigious talent as a musician, singer and songwriter. ”Ordinary Madness” is an absolutely stunning album, a great mixture of rockin’ blues, classic rock and a couple of ballads.
Definitely one of the best blues-rock albums of the year.
01 – Ordinary Madness
02 – Wanna Dance
03 – My Foolish Pride
04 – Heartland
05 – All Out Of Tears
06 – Final Curtain Call
07 – Heaven In Your Eyes
08 – The Sun Is Going Down
09 – Make It Right
10 – Up Above My Sky
11 – OK Boomer
Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica – Walter Trout
Bass – Johnny Griparic
Drums – Michael Leasure
Hammond – Drake Shining, Skip Edwards
Harmony Vocals – Eric Corne
Keyboards – Teddy Andreadis
Piano – Skip Edwards
Percussion – Michael Leasure
Guest Guitar – Anthony Grisham (track 2)
BUY IT
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