James Hunter-The Hard Way-CD-FLAC-2008-THEVOiD

                              DRIFT INTO THE VOID
 Info   
     Artist  | James Hunter
     Title   | The Hard Way
     Genre   | Soul                                 Format  | Album
     Source  | CD                                   Time    | 38:35
     Label   | Hear Music                           Store   | 2008
     Catalog | 0888072308541                        Rip     | 2020
     Bitrate | 662 kbps                             Size    | 190.76 MB
     Freq    | 44.1 kHz                             Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
 Tracks 
     01. The Hard Way                                                2:29
     02. Tell Her                                                    3:24
     03. Don't Do Me No Favours                                      4:18
     04. Carina                                                      4:10
     05. She's Got A Way                                             2:41
     06. Til The End                                                 4:19
     07. Hand It Over                                                3:27
     08. Jacqueline                                                  2:28
     09. Class Act                                                   3:00
     10. Ain't Got Nowhere                                           2:19
     11. Believe Me Baby                                             2:44
     12. Strange But True                                            3:16
 Notes  
     James Hunter is one of the best (and one of the few) British blue-eyed soul
     singers to emerge in the late 20th century. Hunter began his roots music
     career in the '80s under the name Howlin' Wilf. His solo recordings feature
     rhythm & blues in the style of the '50s, pitched between R&B, early rock &
     roll, and early soul. His 1994 solo debut, "Believe What I Say", had guest
     appearances by Doris Troy and Van Morrison, and Hunter appeared on a couple
     of Morrison's mid-'90s albums, as well as performing as part of Morrison's
     Rhythm & Blues Revue.
     Although his commercial fortunes had not yet matched theirs by the time
     this album was released, James Hunter had been promoting the revival of
     classic-era soul for a couple decades before fellow Brits Amy Winehouse,
     Corinne Bailey Rae, and Joss Stone came along. His command of the idiom has
     never been less than thorough and convincing - without knowing that the
     songs on "The Hard Way" were newly recorded, anyone might guess that this
     retro feast was a long-lost gem from 1966.
     Hunter's voice is equal parts grits and silk, somewhere between Sam Cooke
     smooth and Bobby Blue Bland scorched, and his small combo of sympathetic
     players could easily have found work in the studios of Hi, Stax, or Chess
     back when this style reigned. Compared to Hunter's last, 2006's
     Grammy-nominated 2People Gonna Talk", "The Hard Way", his debut for Hear
     Music, is a tad tougher - the horns are more prominent and sharper,
     Hunter's guitar has more bite to it, and the rhythms cut deeper - and
     quicker; at times Hunter veers closer to soul-rock than he has in the past,
     but he's still working well within his favorite genre.
     Hunter, as always, is a riveting vocalist - his singing grabs and never
     lets go. He handles both the lazy, bluesy tunes and the sweatier uptempo
     R&B with equal commitment and style, sounding as natural as can be as he
     tells his tales of love and the lack of it. On the slinky blues ballad
     "'Til The End," one of a few tunes on which he is joined by New Orleans
     legend Allen Toussaint, Hunter takes his time spilling out his doomsday
     scenario of a relationship gone down while the drums, bass, and horns lope
     along minimally.
     When he unfurls his brief guitar solo midway, it's economical but searing.
     On the rocking "Jacqueline" a doo-woppy chorus and squalling sax fill in
     the holes, and for the title track, a Cooke ringer, the Echo Strings add
     muscle and sass to the arrangement. Dancefloor denizens once ached for
     tunes this beat-crazy and would do well to reacquaint themselves with the
     real deal via James Hunter.

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14M	01-james_hunter-the_hard_way-thevoid.flac
16M	02-james_hunter-tell_her-thevoid.flac
25M	03-james_hunter-dont_do_me_no_favours-thevoid.flac
18M	04-james_hunter-carina-thevoid.flac
14M	05-james_hunter-shes_got_a_way-thevoid.flac
18M	06-james_hunter-til_the_end-thevoid.flac
15M	07-james_hunter-hand_it_over-thevoid.flac
13M	08-james_hunter-jacqueline-thevoid.flac
17M	09-james_hunter-class_act-thevoid.flac
12M	10-james_hunter-aint_got_nowhere-thevoid.flac
13M	11-james_hunter-believe_me_baby-thevoid.flac
13M	12-james_hunter-strange_but_true-thevoid.flac
183M	total