Design By Humans
Published On: Wed, Nov 18th, 2015

Martin Barre: Back to Steel

barreMartin Barre
Back to Steel
(self-released)

Best known as the guitarist for decades in Jethro Tull, Martin Barre has released another in his short line of brilliant solo works. Back to Steel features Mr. Barre playing guitars, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, flute and keys, and writing almost all of the 15 songs on this album.Ā Opening with the heavy, big riffs of the title track, we get Martin as dexterous as ever with a good foil in vocalist Dan Crisp and organist Patrick James Pearson. A wonderful lead issues forth from Barre on the love song ā€œItā€™s Getting Betterā€ showcasing one of the aspects of Barreā€™s playing I have always liked ā€“ he can spin his fingers into very complex lead phrases but they never are overwrought and they do indeed rock!Ā We get Martin playing banjo and slide in the simple stomp of the wonderful ā€œBad Manā€ and him tearing the house down as heavy as any ā€œhammer godā€ rock players on ā€œMoment Of Madness.ā€ There are big power chords here, wailing, double-handed attack with the band hitting hard behind Barre.Ā A guitarist this fluid, this expressive shows off his lighter moments as Martin Barre often revealed in the many pastoral moments in Jethro Tull. On Back to Steel we get acoustic workouts on the sweet ā€œYou And Iā€ where Barre backs singers Alex Hart and Elani Andrea and his solo acoustic piece with fast turn-arounds and medieval vibe, ā€œCalafel.ā€Ā Barre covers a few tunes here as well. Thereā€™s a wild stomp to his remake of ā€œEleanor Rigby,ā€ a countrified, full chorus to his send-up to Jethro Tullā€™s ā€œSkating Away,ā€Ā  his heavy blues tread over ā€œSmokestackā€ and long drawn-out drama over album ender ā€œSlow Marching Bandā€ (featuring some of Barreā€™s best guitar work ever in a Tull songā€¦and thatā€™s saying a lot!).Ā Youā€™re not going to get much better then Martin Barre and the talented guitarist proves this fact well on his brilliant new Back to Steel.

You can purchase the album here.

Ā 

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Martin Barre: Back to Steel