Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs

I kind of went a little overboard today. I went in for one thing and walked out with 10. The good news is that i got the mother of all "regular customer" discounts, the bad news is that's way too many to know where to start. I guess that means we'll skip the formalities and get down to what i went for in the first place. Hopefully the rest will take care of themselves after that. 

No idea why, but over the last couple weeks Bridge of Sighs has been popping up randomly all over my mediatainment sources. I'm nothing if not morbidly cynical, so i was a little worried that Robin Trower suddenly died, but great news he's merely in the midst of touring his newest album titled like he's not going to make many more albums. I went in for Bridge of Sighs, but [sigh] walked out with his next 2 albums as well. You just shouldn't let me walk around with cash in my wallet, the fool and me will buy used records with it every single time. The solo on that particular track is totally bonkers, by the way. 

You might remember Robin Trower from a little band called Procol Harum. I sure do. He is what i call a "doodler," and a good one at that. I have it on good authority that he just liked the words "bridge of sighs" when he heard them one time, so this is just a Random Crap album of the Blues Rock variety. What impresses me though is that from start to finish this power trio has every bit of force and power as Blood, Sweat & Tears. Not just because James Dewar does a mean David Clayton Thomas impression, but because Trower's overdubs are so lushly orchestrated and vibrant. And the riffs and solos, my goodness. I like Trower better than Clapton, and not by a small margin. 

Supposedly the next two albums aren't nearly as good, but [sigh] i guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it (hopefully not Indiana Jones style). For now though, if what you want is a Cream album that actually rocks, i can now confirm that Bridge of Sighs does exactly that. It does not have much of a shape or trajectory, but that's fine because it means it won't feel weird to just keep flipping it over and listening to the other side again a dozen times. I'm sure the cover art is supposed to make you think of an infinite desert and the sands of eternity or something, but all i smell is a freshly opened jar of peanut butter. Anywho, good stuff.