Obviously reigning in the spirit of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Gales has proven himself to be the rightful heir of Blues based guitar music from a deep line of soulful tradition present. After cleaning up his act from years of substance abuse, he has marked out a name for himself in terms of musical territory. Like one of his contemporaries, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, he is a very underrated and overlooked musician of today, and he has created a successful solo career that amazes many. This is Eric Gales’s latest solo album, and we should examine it, given his musical talents. Let’s do just that.

Death Of Me launches straight into it with some whooshing noises and Eric Gales simply stating, “My name is Eric Gales, any questions?” and quickly enters into a quirky Fender Stratocaster based groove. Instantly, this is thrilling and excellent to hear. It just sounds like a decent musical romp, filled with great influences and music abound. Eric Gales sings nicely here, and there are some euphoric female backing vocals as well. An odd sounding tune in general, but one that is very much listenable. This is a great listening experience from the 21st century, and there is some low-key Fender Stratocaster playing in the middle here, before this launches into the second half of the song with guts and glory. All the same, this is fantastic and wonderful listening. The guitar solo in the second half does evoke a more shred based Jimi Hendrix upon listening and sounds amazing here. A really awesome and enjoyable tune to hear, this sounds really fantastic. Great listen, one of the better songs released in recent times, and totally worth your ears.

The Storm begins with some good lone vocals by Eric Gales that are interesting. Great to hear, it quickly launches into a piece of music that has some funky Fender Stratocaster playing, keyboard, horns and other great sound abounds. Again, this is a stunning listening experience that should be heard by more people out there. A really fine and fantastic effort, our main man Eric Gales is a musician extraordinaire who understands how to sonically impress the listener. All the same, this is wonderful. A great melodic guitar solo is present in the second half, just sounding unbelievably great. Eric Gales plays the Blues with a mid-tempo feel, halfway between melodicism and shred, and just sounds really top-notch overall. An awesome and listenable tune, this is a really stunning listening experience. The music in this song is amazing. Towards the end, Eric Gales resumes into the guitar soloing and sounds amazing, to a soulful backing group. A fine and funky listen, worth your time. The playing present is really amazing. This song fades out towards the end.

Had To Dip is a 30 second piece with some jamming here. Sounding interesting, it is a surprisingly good addition to this album and is over before you know it.

I Want My Crown features fellow guitarist extraordinaire Joe Bonamassa. It begins with some awesome Fender Stratocaster shredding and launches into a pleasant and funky groovetastic tune that is really great to listen to. A really good tune to listen to, the playing is fantastic and immaculate throughout. With a great New Orleans styled Soul backing group to listen to, this is a fantastic listen throughout. Essentially, this is a mission statement by Eric Gales and is the standout tune from this album. A very adventurous musical listen, Eric Gales and Joe Bonamassa do wonderfully here. There is a great guitar solo duel present that sounds exciting, exhilarating and brilliant. A great, great listen. If you need to hear any music from this album, then this is the song to go to. The music present is fantastic and absolutely worth your time. A wonderful listen from start to finish.

Stand Up begins with some lush organ parts, which sound really quite cool. Eric Gales quickly launches into singing and begins a song that is full of Blues styled pain. Nonetheless, this again sounds really excellent and great. The musicianship, playing and effort overall present on this album are really outstanding. The guitar playing on these songs in particular is a standout point, and the guitar solo near the middle of the song is smooth, soulful and Stratty. This isn’t a million miles away from the great music of 1970s era Eric Clapton. Even so, this is an original Eric Gales tune at its best. A great and thoroughly excellent listening experience, this does sound really tuneful and amazing. The guitar playing throughout perfectly matches the organ playing and is dramatic and excellent. A top tune by Eric Gales, and another great musical experience. Worth your ears. The long fade-out is pretty.

Survivor begins with some singing and thundering drums with Eric Gales singing about dealing with life’s problems and getting through it all. This is a more traditional Blues based romp that sounds really amazing and terrific, and the sounds here are really excellent. The chorus in particular is quite uplifting, with more female Soul styled backing vocals to match. Again, Eric Gales’s guitar playing is really fantastic and this is very much continuing in the strain of Jimi Hendrix here in terms of musical evolution. The chorus is euphoric, pleasant and wonderful here. It is a real shame that this music is so underrated. It needn’t be. A joyous, interesting and uplifting tune with a dirty, groovy and manic guitar solo, Eric Gales proves his worth. Great tune to listen to, his vibrato and pseudo-shredding are really manic here. Soon enough, this launches into a vocal and drums only section, which is suspenseful. The song quickly resumes, and this sounds gloriously good. A very nice listen from Eric Gales, totally worth your time. Fantastic music for those who dig the Blues. Great tune.

You Don’t Know The Blues begins with some radio channels being switched, before launching into a distant radio intro of this song, and the song itself eventually kicks in. Instantly, this is a great listening experience that sounds really impressive and clever. An interesting song with the song title repeated throughout, this is about making it through hard times to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. A good effort, although it isn’t the best song from this album. The wording and syncopation aren’t the best here overall, although the song itself is very, very good. Another blistering guitar solo is present here, and Eric Gales sounds like a great guitar player, through and through. The recurring melodies in the guitar solo are really sweet and amazing to listen to. A great effort nonetheless, this is an outstanding tune. Excellent music to listen to, this is Rock music for those who have been through the toughest of times. A legendary song for legends, this sounds amazing for what it is. It concludes with more guitar soloing and sounds that are excellent, finishing abruptly. Brilliant.

Rattlin’ Change is a short piece of music, around a minute which is really cool. It has Eric Gales playing some tremendous guitar, with his band following in the wake. A really great listen for what it is, a nice and short piece to hear.

Too Close To The Fire begins with some really gorgeous Fender Stratocaster parts, swirling organ and subtle hi-hats. Soon enough, this song launches into an amazing ballad that sounds really excellent. Eric Gales sings well here about relationship issues, but the real star of the show is his guitar playing. He is one of the most notable guitarists since Jimi Hendrix to wield a Fender Stratocaster. Nonetheless, this is a really excellent piece of music that sounds top-notch and fine to hear. Awesome music, this sounds really pleasant and dramatic. An interesting listening experience from start to finish, this is one of the better songs from this album. It goes on for over seven minutes as well, but every moment here is worth it. A really great tune to listen to, there is a searing guitar solo in the second half that is excellent. Nonetheless, a great tune for many out there to listen to and enjoy, this is one of the best tunes from this album. Towards the end is a typically excellently played Fender Stratocaster solo from Eric Gales that sounds manic and brilliant, and eventually is drenched in wah-wah. All the same, this is outstanding. Straight up brilliant, this does evoke the spirit of Jimi Hendrix nicely. An awesome listening experience from start to finish. Worth your time and ears, through and through. It ends with some great dramatic playing, great work.

Put That Back launches into another 1970s styled and sounding groove, and enters into a good song with some decent organ, brass sections, soulful female backing vocals and other grandiose musical elements present. This is a great and enjoyable listening experience, although the lyrics here aren’t the best. The guitar playing is more the focus of listening on this album. Regardless, this is still a very good listen throughout. There is a sample throughout of a Margaret Thatcher soundalike ordering Eric Gales around as well. The guitar solo present is slower, more overdriven but really good here. Awesome tune to listen to, Eric Gales puts 100% into this album. A good song but the lyrics could have been rewritten here, this sounds really cool. It ends with some intricate bass guitar, which is great but unusual.

Take Me Just As I Am is another interesting piece with wah-wah guitar, bongos and female lead vocals here by LaDonna Gales (Eric Gales’s wife, obviously), which is unusual. Regardless, this gives Eric Gales more room to concentrate on his legendary guitar skills, rather than singing as well. This is another short and sweet tune that sounds melodic, excellently played and very thoughtful throughout. A really cool and interesting tune, Eric Gales does some talk over the track in the second half of the song before Mrs. Gales launches into a call-and-response vocal section that is really cool. A quirky but nice addition to the album.

Cupcakin’ is a 45 second jam. Again, this makes it all worth it, even for its super short running time. Great stuff, and definitely worth your ears. Good to hear.

Let Me Start With This begins with some rather heavily drenched guitar sounds, launching into a guitar based groove that is really powerful, energetic and melodically excellent. Eric Gales really knows how to make a great bunch of songs for people to listen to and enjoy to this very day. The midsection has the drenched sounds present that sound really cool. An awesome and imitable song, Eric Gales shows the world his musical ingeniousness and expertise in these songs. A fun, fine and fantastic tune to listen to, this is a magical musical moment in the history of time. Not even three minutes long, yet this is definitely worth hearing.

I Found Her is a tender song from the start, with fingerpicked acoustic guitar and accordion. This is nearly seven minutes long. Eric Gales sings nicely about finding his own love, and he sounds very open and vulnerable here. Soon enough, drums enter and this tune gets going underway. This is very different to the rest of the album, but it sounds really top-notch and wonderful all the same. A lovely, interesting and rather blue sounding tune, Eric Gales doesn’t sound overly happy here, funnily enough. Still, this is a good listen with some great acoustic guitar soloing towards the middle that is nicely played and delivered. A very deep and meaningful sort of tune to listen to, this is not cheerful sounding at all, although it is something that one should celebrate. Regardless, this is a good listen, perhaps not quite a great one. Still, this works. It launches into a pseudo-Guns ‘N’ Roses styled guitar solo section, and this comes across as Eric Gales’s November Rain. The soloing is great, however. A good listen throughout. It ends after nearly seven minutes in length with searing guitar feedback and string sections, only to conclude with an accordion solo. Fairly dark.

My Own Best Friend is a five minute long tune. It begins with some excellent Fender Stratocaster playing, Eric Gales singing about his own life. He sounds quite good here, and sounding optimistic and joyful on this tune, this is a welcome change from what came before it, which was dreary. Nonetheless, this song does sound really great musically. Proving that he can sing, play and Rock out nicely, this is a great song to listen to, ideally on the way home from a long day at work. There is a pretty and sensual guitar solo that does sound really cool here, with some great and expert playing on the neck pickup of the Fender Stratocaster. Eric Gales resumes singing, and this tune is a real joy to listen to. A pretty and amazing listen, there is a semi-shred guitar solo towards the end here. Eric Gales really can play nicely. A great listen, it concludes nicely at the end with a pretty guitar figure and well played drumming. Excellent.

I Gotta Go is the last song here. It begins with a gorgeous brass section, nice guitar playing in the background and Eric Gales singing basically an encore number. Still, it does sound really fantastic, awesome and interesting throughout. A tuneful, interesting and lovely number to listen to, this is a cool tune about leaving people at the right time and place. Great to hear, this does sound really nice and decent. It gets subtle and interesting. Eric Gales thanks everyone in his band, including his wife LaDonna, and this album concludes very nicely. This is exactly how an album should end.

This is an outstanding album that deserves to be heard more from people in music. Eric Gales proves to the world that he is a competent, capable and decent musician. Very much all the tracks on this album are highly worth your time. Should you listen to this album? Please do give this a spin, especially if you like Funk, Soul, Blues or the music of Jimi Hendrix. Eric Gales proves that guitar based music is still very much alive in the 21st century.

A great and interesting listen.

9/10