 List Price: $18.98
Lowest Price: $6.93 
Album Description: Soul deep Brit James Hunter - who possesses a "tight, slithery soul groove" and a "sweet growl" (NY Times) - will make his Hear Music debut with the release of 'The Hard Way.' The new album finds Hunter delving further into the realm of deep soul on a set of all-original material. 'The Hard Way' was produced by Liam Watson (The White Stripes) at famed analogue haven Toe Rag Studios in London. The instrumental palette is rich and the arrangements sharpened for 'The Hard Way.' Allen Toussaint joins Hunter on the sultry "Til The End," the rhumba "Believe Me Baby," and the title track. The gorgeous Echo Strings buoy "The Hard Way" and the romantic "Carina," with accompanying pedal steel. The jumping "Don't Do Me No Favors" is designed for the dance floor. The album resolves with the romantic ballad "Strange But True," the first Hunter recording stripped down to just vocals and guitar. The album also showcases further evidence of Hunter's guitar prowess, his manic solos recalling the fretwork of Ike Turner. Hunter has extensively road tested the new album, crisscrossing North America and Europe since his 2006, GRAMMY nominated album 'People Gonna Talk' put him on the map. That album took him from being "one of the best voices, and best kept secrets, in British R'n'B and Soul," as Van Morrison put it, to a major breakout success of 2006. He opened for Etta James, Boz Scaggs, Los Lonely Boys, and Aretha Franklin; reached #1 on Billboard's Blues chart; and made several national television appearances. 'People Gonna Talk; earned him critical acclaim as well, with Rolling Stone calling it "a treat not to miss" and USA Today raving about his "sublime soul." Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-08
A Bit of A Disappointment
I'm not sure why other reviewers are giving this album five stars, as it is definitely a disappointment when compared to "People Gonna Talk", a far superior album. I highly dislike "Til The End", but there are some great songs on this disc, like "The Hard Way", "Hand It Over", "Jacqueline" and "Class Act". "Carina" is an excellent track, which is quite similar to the previous album's "Mollena". The other songs on this album are just sort of there. Still, I'm extremely interested in seeing Hunter perform live. He has one of the best voices around today and his guitar playing is immediately recognizable. He's a real throwback to the 1960s soul scene. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-27
Great album, but CAVEAT on the MP3 downloads...
I bought this album yesterday as an Amazon.com MP3 download, expecting the individual song files to be in the 256 kbps range, as advertised...
Amazon.com says, "we aim for an average of 256 kilobits per second [with our VBR encoding]"
...BUT the tracks I downloaded all ranged in the 150-180 kbps range, WAY below Amazon's stated target for audio quality.
I'm miffed! I've downloaded quite a few albums from Amazon.com and all the VBRs were quite close to the 256 kbps target. WHAT'S UP?
Yes, I'll complain to their Customer Service department, but I thought other James Hunter fans should be forewarned.
True, some songs with very little dynamic range will produce small VBR files, but this album has LOTS of dynamic range, so that ain't the problem!
I'd hate to see Amazon.com diluting the value of their MP3 downloads. That might send me back to iTunes... Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-21
Prepare to be converted!
I bought James Hunters previous album just because I liked the cover photo! First track had me thinking 'not my kinda music', by the end I just started it up from the beginning again - not done that in years! Since then delving into his back catalog has yielded still more warm, genuine and heartfelt music - label it what you will as 'soul', 'R&B", 'blue eyed soul' does not really do his contemporary, but retro, song style justice.
The guy can not only sing with grit and authentic emotion, he plays a mean lead guitar that does not get in the way of the song. The band are exemplary with great grooves and awesome brass (plus the best sax solo in years). Each song has a mood and a comfortable feel but with the wit and twists to make it all James's personal statement.
Recorded at a back to basics 50/60's equipment studio in London, this album captures the feeling of a bygone age without ever feeling stale or dated - more like rediscovering what makes music great in this pro-tools digitized age.
Whatever music you are into, if this album doesnt raise a smile, tap a toe or get you shouting 'Oh Yeah!!!' at least three times, check your pulse - you may be dead.
Get it - you wont regret it. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-21
James makes it look easy...
James has had limited success in Britain on the blues/R&B circuit (where he was previously known as Howlin' Wilf) but in the last few years in the US he has enjoyed Grammy nominations for his 'People gonna talk' CD, nation-wide tours and national TV appearances. I saw him on last year's San Francisco Blues Festival where, despite sharing the bill with established stars like Alan Toussaint, John Hammond, Charlie Musslewhite, Robert Randolph etc, he was (by far) the best thing on all weekend.
This follow-up to 'People gonna talk' was recorded in London's White Stripes-endorsed analogue Toe Rag studios and again sounds fabulous, straight from the late 50s. The sound, arrangements and indeed some of the songs are very similar to 'People gonna talk' but why change a winning formula? In truth some of the tracks have additional instruments (eg the strings and back up vocals on 'Hand it over' and the pedal steel on 'Carina') but the feel remains the same. It's easy to see James influences - Sam Cooke ('Carina') Ray Charles ('Don't do me no favours'), Sam Cooke ('The Hard Way', James Brown ('Believe me baby') - but what better influences to have? Alan Toussaint joins James for several tracks - possibly as a result of the meeting in San Francisco - but James' regular keyboard player Kyle Koeljer is also excellent throughout this CD, as are all his regular band.
If you liked 'People gonna talk' you will like 'The Hard Way', which has exactly the same feel and overall (excellent) sound but has just enough progressions to keep it interesting. In many ways James is doing similar material to Amy Winehouse, Dufy, Mark Ronson etc but doing it much more authentically; it's a pity he can't share their popularity in his own country.
Rating:
Date: 2008-06-20
great summer in love music
lets set the stage here ....You are sitting on a deck,porch,or roof top ,or beach, somewhere ..sipping cold ,cold beer or just mixed right drink ,or light white wine , you have a loved one near you ...do your self a favor reach for this cd and ,or his last one ... and the music will make you hold hands and say mmmmm,or even slow dance and guys there is nothing sexier to a woman then a good slow dance.. you will feel good , in fact I dare anyone to listen to this cd and not smile ...this is a way back machine to music thats is not black or white or rock or rap or country or anything else.. if you want sam cook smooth and,ray charles cool, buy this cd ..and then find that loved one and you will see ..I promise you...I will leave the formal reviews to others ..For me this is music for the soul of those in love with the heart... |
