[rating=7.00]
Kudos to Jeff Beck for being willing to try new things rather than simply recycle the signature jazz-rock amalgam he honed on Blow by Blow and Guitar Shop. On his last two records, You Had It Coming and Jeff, he’s worked with musicians, vocalists and producers to explore the sounds of electronica and, to some extent, he continues the expedition with Loud Hailer, albeit with more emphasis on vocals than on those prior releases.
To his credit, over the years Beck’s taught himself how to contour his playing around singing, without diminishing the impact of either element of the recording,so this album’s heavily blues-derived opener,“The Revolution Will Be Televised,” works because it’s basically a call and response. Plus, there’s a healthy solo segment for the iconoclastic guitarist to wail, after restraining himself alongside vocalist Rosie Bones, who, along with her bandmate Carmen Vandenberg and Beck himself, co-authored most of the originals that comprise Loud Hailer.
“Live in the Dark” works much the same way with the female sensuality of the singer proving an effective foil for Beck’s animalistic rhythm and lead playing. Rosie Bones appropriately flashes attitude aplenty on “Thugs Club,” refusing to sublimate her presence to Beck or adopt an approach at odds with his blues and jazz roots (nor does she strain to fit into that domain). Beck might see this record as his statement on the world as he sees it, but lyrics like these don’t resonate as much as his otherworldly electric guitar spasms or the deafening drum tracks under it. In contrast,with conventional funk guitar accentuated by Beck’s swooping solo, “O.I.L. (Can’t Get Enough Of That Sticky)” works because of the tongue-in-cheek undercurrent beneath the innuendo.
The way Beck sets the petulant tone of “Right Now,” he impels Rosie Bones to spit out the words as nastily as she does. Her abandon there only makes the the more disciplined delivery sound so impressive on “Shame,” something of a cross between a Sam Cooke ballad and Fifties-styled do-wop—she almost but not quite steals the track from Beck. Fundamental components of production, shared between Jeff and Bones studio cohort Filippo Cimatti, allows for the effective placement of balladry in the form of “Scared for the Children,” where the ex-Yardbird mixes electric and acoustic guitars with precise delicacy.
Still, not everything works on Loud Hailer. While the fiery nature of the guitarist’s playing usually offsets the somewhat mechanistic musicianship, the lack of real instrumental interplay may explain why the pair of all-instrumental tracks, both of which Beck composed alone, come off as token gestures to fusion fans.“Pull It” might well have gone on much longer than its mere two minutes and on its counterpart, “Edna,” the musicians simply don’t have much of a chance to go anywhere in a little over a minute. Meanwhile “The Ballad of the Jersey Wives” doesn’t sound like it was fully developed as a song before Beck and co. (including drummer Davide Sollazzi and bassist Giovanni Pallotti) took it to the studio.
As if Jeff Beck didn’t want to end up coming off too negatively via the often topical slant of the lyrics to these new songs, “Shrine,” ends the record on a note of forced sanctimony that might’ve better been communicated solely through the bittersweet solemnity of Jeff Beck’s guitar. As elsewhere on Loud Hailer, it’s the sound of his instrumental voice that’s most memorable.
