Album Review: The Derek Trucks Band- Already Free

Hi all,
     My name is Surjo and I'm a professional musician. The music you're hearing (hopefully) is from my debut album 'The Key Has Turned' which you can buy here.

    The album up for review is 'Already Free' by The Derek Trucks Band. Ever since I've discovered Derek Trucks through the Crossroads Guitar Festival he has always featured really high on my list of favourite guitar players. I haven't yet really heard The Derek Trucks band yet, having heard more of The Tedeschi Trucks Band, so, this has all the potential to be a good time.

   

'Maybe This Time' starts off the album with a easy-going feel-good vibe. The vocal melody feels a little flat to me, and a lot of the words are generic. There seems to be a distinct old school RnB flavour in the track, without the X-factor and flash that's the USP of that style of music. A trademark Trucks solo to finish it out. 

'Our Love' starts off with an acoustic riff that has come Led Zep hidden in the tall grass, well disguised by the straight bass drum pattern. Both songs so far have Doyle Bramhall Jr co-writing, and somehow I can feel some of his vocal choices making their way through to the songs, and that's never been my taste. Certain albums have a penchant for being incredibly creative, without necessarily being melodic in the sense of flow, and somehow this is falling in that category to me. The songs have a lot of musical parts flying around, but not enough cohesiveness to really pull me in. 

'Something To Make You Happy' starts off with a really involved riff, uptempo and staccato. The words are fairly generic, but the chorus definitely is catchy. Trademark Derek Trucks brilliance on all songs so far with the solos. 

'Get What You Deserve' has Doyle Bramhall's signature hurried feel and guitar style over it, and again, not to my taste. The mix is such that the vocals get hidden in the vast guitar jungle, and then the words are mostly generic, which results in a major disconnect for me with the song. 

'Sweet Inspiration' has a major gospel vibe to it, with a more precise riff than anything else so far, with the lack of overdub guitars serving to make the picture clearer. The fact that the drum pattern has head-bob written all over it definitely helps the cause. 

'Down In The Flood' starts off with an acoustic guitar riff, that has some Led Zep 3 qualities, with the 12 string and what not. When the drums kick in, the concoction has reached a really heady point and really kicks it on from there. The words in the song, do tell a story, and I'm a big fan of that. Actually the lyrics have a similar story with Led Zep's 'When The Levee Breaks' with an additional twist in the tale. Cool points. 

'I Know' has some of Derek's Hindustani Classical influences showing through, with the tanpura strains and the particular choice of slide work he does. That quickly morphs into a really involved 6/8 riff. The rest of the song carries through in the same flow. The words don't have much of an impact. 

'Down Don't Bother Me' has an intro that got me thinking about the overall harsh tonality that the album has. It's definitely not a polished sound, and it's almost throwback to the old RnB sound, and an old country sound, and they're mixed in equal measure, and therefore the sound definitely takes getting used to. Plus the lead instrument is a slide guitar, which definitely doesn't hold pride of place like it used to back in the day. Like I said, creative but not compelling. 

'Day Is Almost Gone' starts off with the most easy-going riff so far. But the vocal melody doesn't grab the attention, partly to do with the melody itself, and partly to do with the mixes being so instrument heavy. The words in themselves aren't compelling enough to make up for the lack of melody and mix. Although, all of this is subjective, and just because it doesn't suit my tastes, doesn't mean it will be bad for everyone. 

'Don't Miss Me' has the most sleazy riff so far, and shows early promise. A small key change and the doubling up of the tempo does offer a creative change, and the music is strong enough to carry the vocals. I'm not talking about the singer being ordinary, because the singer is great, just that the material he's singing isn't. This whole non-reverb sound is just taking the edge off of the songs, whereas it should be the other way around. 

'Back Where I Started' sounds like Susan Tedeschi on vocals, and she cuts through the mix just fine. The minimal nature of the song is really lending itself to some good definition. Just the improved vocal makes it easier to listen and analyze the words being said and being patient in trying to get it's meaning. 

'Already Free' closes out the album, and has the same minimal arrangement as the previous song. The vocal effect used on the song is bizarre, and the words don't really tell a story, so nothing there. 

I wouldn't listen to the album in it's entirety again, maybe choose one or two songs to listen to again. The poor writing wasn't salvaged by Derek Truck's slide brilliance, and again, it's a subjective thing, it isn't to my taste, I know they're a big enough band to be appealing to quite a few people. The whole situation where blues influenced music has to have really generic words just baffles me, it's almost lazy. Nevertheless, maybe some of their other albums might strike me better.