Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham’s new band

[luvlz2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS7Y-9NAHCE Third behind the scenes clip, first two in my two previous posts.

[luvlz2]

California Breed in scheduled to be the guest on rockline May 26 according to the rockline website.

[luvlz2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BZP8tfCQfQ Fourth Behind-The-Scenes Clip

[The Pagemeister]

[luvlz2]

After just previewing the entire album I love it and the performance from Glenn Hughes on Planet Rock kicks serious butt, thanks for posting it Pagemeister!

The entire album is now available for preview here: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/california-breed-featuring-glenn-hughes-and-jason-bonham-entire-debut-album-available-for-streaming/ .

[The Pagemeister]

[geekfreak]

an amazing vid`s of the band thanks...

[luvlz2]

[Charles J. White]

It is fucking amazing sounding. Glen is such a gem, and frankly Jason is the greatest drummer on the planet today. Andrew comes from the Steve Clark/Jimmy Page/Jeff Martin school of guitar playing where the guitar adds to the song instead of just being an excuse to solo plus I notice his chord sequence are not the typical sounding stuff that so many E-string guys love to play.

[luvlz2]

California Breed will be on Rockline tonight (May 26)

[luvlz2]

I got on Rockline! I asked them about the making of "Breathe"!

[SteveAJones]

Highlights from their debut gig in Los Angeles the other night:

[SteveAJones]

May 19. 2014 7:06PM

Review: California Breed takes classic rock to a whole new place

Lisa Martineau

NewHampshire.com

There’s a self-titled debut album coming out tomorrow (May 20) by a “new” band called California Breed featuring a couple of masters of the music world, the “Voice of Rock” Glenn Hughes (vocals, bass) and the apple-doesn’t-fall-far-from-the-tree Jason Bonham (drums) plus a young and talented guitarist (soon-to-be guitar hero) Andrew Watt. It will take you back, not because it’s necessarily nostalgic or because it sounds like anything you might have heard before, but because it’s straight-up, no-holds-barred, rock ‘n roll. There’s a recognizable vibe here, one that remains consistent throughout the record, a bunch of groove-laden heavy tracks that sound like they were recorded in your mother’s garage.

Maybe that’s why it sounds and feels so – familiar – say, like your most comfortable pair of jeans, ripped in just the right places.

Did I mention the groove? It's those grooves that melt in your mouth, lingering at tip of your tongue, on occasion sticking around for awhile because of a particular rhythm or riff – or even lyric, sometimes tasting bitter, sometimes sweet and at other times burning your palate until it hurts a little. It’s that perfect blend of pain and pleasure that just works. That sound – garage band meets vocal perfection, guitar grungy at times, heavy, hard, and still groovy – it’s their sound, and it’s a sound that shows they aren't afraid to play it their way, letting the chips fall where they may.

Drummer Jason Bonham, the son of the late, great John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, has developed his own style in his years behind the kit. His previous work with Hughes led to this collaboration (which Bonham has called his “best work yet”), and although the record hardly references the recently disassembled Black Country Communion, there are – very few, but they are there – bits and pieces of the old band lying around on this record. Bonham’s best work is highlighted on the track “Midnight Oil”, which opens with a drum-driven intro to what can only be described as an inferno of a song.

Glenn Hughes – the “Voice of Rock” – is as flawless as ever. His voice, as exquisitely powerful as it is, truly shines on the track, “All Falls Down”. The music pulls on heartstrings as well as guitar strings, delving deep into raw emotion, both musically and lyrically with an almost melancholy barrage of lyrics that take you through a range of emotions. The song is huge, both because it transcends Black Country Communion and because it moves you like no other track on this album.

Overall, the arrangements are big and bad, the lyrics intense, and the sound loud, garage-band meets a range of rock influence. You may – like I did – hear a bit of everything on this record, from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to 90s grunge and even a bit of psychedelic play.

Kicking off with the raucous opener, "The Way" is a barrage of guitars and punch that pulls you straight in, only to be followed by the first single, "Sweet Tea," a song that will slither around on the tip of your tongue for the rest of the day. It's got that swagger and groove that gets inside your head and swims around for awhile.

The kid playing guitar, Andrew Watt, is fierce - at least as fierce as Jason is behind his drum kit - on the single "Midnight Oil", a song that yields dramatic guitar solos, killer vocals that stretch out like magic, and background vocalists to create a harmony that pulls it all together flawlessly.

Covering a stratosphere of genres, the band manages to hit on some punk elements in the song, "The Grey". The song has moments that make you want to jump up and down and yet it slows down at all the right moments. This one is a planned single/video and we can see why it was chosen.

"Days They Come" asks "do you want to stay? do you want to go?" and we definitely find ourselves wanting to stay, because this is where "the voice of rock" pushes his voice ever higher.

There's even some acoustic guitar play in the songs "Strong" and "Breathe." It might seem like it wouldn't fit in with such a fiery record, but the rhythm and vocals are rightly aligned with the rest of the tracks that surround them.

Each song was recorded live and that is perhaps why we find ourselves thinking that we've been transported into someone's garage, hearing the songs as they were played in the studio. It's a sound we haven't heard in awhile, and this is where producer Dave Cobb steps in to make it sound like it was left alone, and it was. There are very few overdubs on this record.

The result is the sound of a tailpipe without too much muffler, and that sound that rumbles from the headers is one that you'll want to play again and again until it reaches deep into your soul.

http://www.newhampshire.com/apps/pbcs.dll/search?Category=SEARCH&q=&StartDate=20140519

[SteveAJones]

California Breed – Album Review

May 19, 2014

California Breed, the self-titled debut release, May 20th, 2014.

Review by Ann Joles

Ready for a hard rock release that begs you to sink in, tune out, and soak it up? Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham are back together again, thankfully, along with guitarist Andrew Watt and producer Dave Cobb, and they are giving us the delight of the year, California Breed. Their debut, self-titled album is due to be released May 20th, 2014. This may be the collaboration and collection of kick ass that puts hard rock back where it belongs – front and center. This is a gem.

I’ve said it before, and in the spirit of full disclosure I will say it again, I love Glenn Hughes. The man’s voice energizes the soul while his aggressive bass style rattles the bones. Jason Bonham, of course, is brilliant. The man doesn’t just play drums. The man drives his drum work, shifting, rolling, and building the interest in each song. Certainly Hughes and Bonham could carry any band, but Andrew Watt, a young man who weaves his guitar work into a song as if breathing through the composition, completes the trio’s ability to bend classic rock into something exciting. Big, fangirl words, yes, but the critics all agree – California Breed is a hard rock dream come true.

For those of you wondering if Hughes/Bonham means another Black Country Communion, the answer is No.

While some recently released classic rock-inspired albums could easily slip into the 1972 hot rotation line up without attracting notice, California Breed would stand out like a Rottweiler in a litter of poodles. And so they should. When Maine Music News asked Glenn Hughes in a recent interview about the process behind the California Breed sound, he told us, “I wanted this to be either a 1968 or 2014 sound.” Exactly. This collection is a 2014 interpretation of the great rhythm, melody, and guitar work pioneered decades ago – but better – with even more brass. The older I get, the less I endure music that feels mediocre and mellow. I want music that creates a connection, growls, and isn’t afraid of grit and power. I want some meat on my music’s bones. California Breed was reading my mind, and every track delivers.

Glenn Hughes shared with Maine Music News the writing process that led up to the album. He told us, “There were no Andrew Watt or Glenn Hughes solo songs. We started to write “Chemical Rain” and “Solo” at my house the first day we got together, me and Andrew. A month later we started to send each other what you now hear on the album. I wrote “Breathe” and “The Grey” and “Sweet Tea” and “Days They Come” and sent them to Andrew. He helped me finish them, and he sent me “All Falls Down,” “The Way,” and “Scars,” and I finished them. So I wanted it to be collaborative.” In fact, writing credit is given to all three members of the band.

That makes perfect sense and is indicative of character in this release. Hughes is a force of nature, Bonham has a distinct style to say the least, and Watt, though just getting started, has a strong, unique, almost subtle but still vibrant, guitar presence. With these three big personalities and talents, their songs could easily sound compartmentalized, but that is far from the case. California Breed feels organically grown and free of overwhelming ego or overproduction. The compositions here seamlessly flow and surprise and whisper and rock and have grown more interesting with repeated listens.

Here is a quick, track by track run down:

The release starts off with a full onslaught of bass and drums on “The Way.” Nothing is held back on this one, or any of these tracks for that matter. Next, “Sweet Tea” is testosterone set to a funky and fun groove, and Watt steps forward with his guitar work. The first single to be released from the album, “Sweet Tea” hit #11 on the US Classic Rock Chart, and it is no wonder.

“Chemical Rain” is heavy and satisfying and thick with Zeppelin and psychedelic overtones. “Midnight Oil’s” pulsing groove comes with sweet harmonies, a smooth female backing vocalist, and a great guitar. Have a listen:

“All Falls Down” shifts the album’s velocity and offers a sweeping, melodic pace that never becomes a ballad but has all the emotional punch. Word has it this will be the next single released in the US. That makes perfect sense to me. “The Grey” winds up the energy with a spunky rock sound and howling Hughes vocals bolstered by Watt’s guitar. “Days They Come” is soft and melodic before hitting a rebellious rock vibe. “Spit You Out” continues the masculine, funky feel that flirts with solid, rocking pop effects.

“Strong” feels ripped from the clutches of the 70s but drips a bit of 80s alternative. It is open and wild, textured and surprisingly interesting. The next track, “Invisible,” is heavy grinding bass, saturated drums, backing vocals, and guitar that peaks out and lightens the mood. “Scars” celebrates funk and rolls out that great beat with riffs and a hook. The last track, “Breathe,” begins with a bit of acoustic, open skies, and poignant vocals from Hughes, but it is a cool down, of sorts, before we get one more shot of everything that’s good – burning vocals, thundering drums, and well-designed classic guitar. What a way to wrap up. Hit repeat.

We don’t rate albums or give so many stars out of whatever, but if I did I would be hard pressed to hold back a perfect score on California Breed’s debut release. This is wonderful, familiar, fresh, soaring and grinding, and captures the power and courage that only classic rock and roll understands. Get your copy, settle in, listen up, and fill your soul.

To purchase California Breed’s new album visit

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/CaliforniaBreed
Amazon: CD:http://smarturl.it/CB_AmzCD
Amazon: CD/DVD: http://smarturl.it/CB_AmzCDDVD

http://www.mainemusicnews.com/california-breed-album-review/

[SteveAJones]

California Breed, Album Review.

Published on May 20, 2014 by admin in Music

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Where do you go when for the last few years you have had just the most incredible success and plaudits falling over themselves to place the band you are in as one of the most of the important of the first past of the 21st Century? Probably the only sane answer would be to tear it all down and rebuild again and that is exactly what Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham have done with their new music offering California Breed and their debut self-titled album.

Ashes are there for a reason; they can be placed into an urn and looked at occasionally or scattered to the winds in the hope that where they land they become part of the fertile ground and reproduce like-minded bands with songs just as exceptional as what California Breed have managed in this recording.

There will be many no doubt that mourn the passing of the Jason Bonham’s and Glenn Hughes’ last ventures but with the addition of the sparkling Andrew Watt, this trio of musicians take their fans on a new adventure and in all honesty, grab a map, a marker to cross off the various staging posts and take plenty of money to buy petrol and drink along the way because it’s going to be a riot of a ride.

The legacy of outstanding music that both Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham bring with them must have reached deep into the core of New Yorker Andrew Watt, the pulsating power of growling electric guitar and drums so loud and intricate that unknown tribes in the Amazon basin will pick up their ears and wonder how to reply to the screams of rock desire.

The determined, uncompromising sound delivered by all three men throughout the album will be one in which to relish, to feed off the energy as watt after watt courses through your body.

Tracks such as the bruising Chemical Rain, the delicious and destructive Midnight Oil, Days They Come and Scars are played with flexible and lithe feeling, whilst All Fall Down generates so much power that the National Grid is surely in talks with the band to ask if they can use them as a potential source.

Should you dig the new breed? Any other answer than a resounding yes is to be ignored. Buy it, play it, dig it.

Ian D. Hall

http://www.liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk/2014/05/20/california-breed-album-review/

[SteveAJones]

California Breed - ‘California Breed’ (Frontiers Records)

CD Reviews Written by Johnny H Monday, 28 April 2014 03:00

Okay let’s start this review by getting the elephant in the room well and truly out of the way early doors - “I can confirm that musically this album has pretty much nothing in common with what bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and his kick drum cohort Jason Bonham were doing within the realms of Black Country Communion, and for me personally that is such a massive relief.” There I’ve said it, made my position clear, so now let’s discover something new and exciting!

The new and exciting I’m referring to are of course California Breed, a powerhouse of rock and soul whose actual inception came about through a chance meeting with Hughes’ long term friend Julian Lennon. That meeting resulted in Lennon introducing Hughes to the talents of 23 year old singer/guitarist Andrew Watt, and the rest as they say, is history in the making.

Quickly drafting in producer Dave Cobb (Waylon Jennings/Rival Sons) to produce the resultant batch of red hot tunes the fledging trio had amassed and recording them as his studio in Nashville was I think a stroke of absolute genius, I’ll explain why in a second, but let’s just say for now that no other record you will hear this year will sound anything like ‘California Breed’.

So what exactly does it sound like? Well with all the chatter beforehand of Watt being influenced by everyone from Jimmy Page to Mick Ronson I was actually (deep down inside) hoping to immediately hear the spiritual rebirth of the latter, but as the opening riff to ‘The Way’ flails itself at me from my speakers my immediate thought is this is actually something more akin to Tom Morello doing his best Page-arama. Which given the fact that Watt was going to have been raised in the age of grunge I guess is as sound a building block to start on as any. It’s also a building block that the rhythm section then hammer out numerous twists and turns for, with Hughes hollering his intentions load and clear for all to hear. “I got the soul you gotta believe” he declares, and as the verse segues into a most sublime chorus who am I to disagree? This is Hughes at his very best vocally, and I’m only one track in.

I’d actually stayed away from the album’s lead track ‘Sweat Tea’, which is up next, largely because I wanted to hear it in the context of the full album, and here it kind of sits like a ‘Nutbush City Limits’ for the album, throbbing along on a dirty bass groove whilst Watt adds the guitar colour. This track will no doubt be a monster live, but for me the best is yet to come.

The goosebumps are kicking in as ‘Chemical Rain’ (the first song Hughes and Watt wrote together) hulks itself into my world, a truly humongous opening riff, that once again has more than a hint of that modern Zeppelin twist to it, breaks down to an almost dreamlike Hendrix-y verse where Hughes is simply left to weave his magic. There’s also some fantastic harmony vocals going on here too which only help add to this track an early highlight.

Then just as I think “how do California Breed top that?” They only go and unleash the proto southern glam romp of ‘Midnight Oil’ on my sorry ass. This is a song with a chorus so sweet most songwriters would spend a lifetime hoping they could write it, and the additional female backing vocals simply lift the song out of this world. This song also has a middle eight straight out of the Mark IV Purple song writing book albeit the part of Dot C is taken by someone who can still sing.

After that sonic roustabout there is only one place to go and that is down, well tempo wise at least, and ‘All Falls Down’ is where the whole Nashville thing I referred to earlier comes to the fore. You see for me what California Breed do oh so well is work the space that each of the musicians leaves for themselves. There’s no showing off, no one-upmanship, it’s all tight and economical (only one song lasts over 5 minutes) and thus ultimately it just feels like it’s all about the tune, and boy do they have some great tunes.

‘The Grey’ which marks the midpoint of the album, is just one case in point, a brooding menacing riff monster that does at last (well for me anyway) conjure up images of Ronno, this is a song that sounds positively ravenous. As does perhaps the album’s most surprising and - to my ears at least - best cut ‘Spit It Out’, a song that is part Black Keys and most definitely part Bowie. I can only guess that it is Watt singing the verse here, but without doubt this is the band’s ‘Suffragette City’ and it is a track you just have to hear. It has classic written all over it!

At this point I should point out that I’ve actual broken a golden track by track review rule by actually skipping a track, ‘Days That Come’, and that’s not because that the track isn’t worth a mention it’s just that I’m so keen to tell you about what happens in the final third of the record that I’ll let you discover the delights of that spiralling vortex of a song all by yourselves. You see I’m too busy soiling my undergarments to the T Rex staccato strut that ushers in ‘Strong’ to really look back now, and even though the song itself goes off at various tangents, it all has a rather wonderful feel of The Who at their creative peak about it. Do you catch my drift?

After that sonic whirlwind of creativity ‘Invisible’ doesn’t really stir up the same passion within me, but ‘Scars’ built on a funky Southern backbeat is a mighty fine piece of boogie stomp designed to get us shaking our tail feathers. Which just leaves the slightly Eastern flavoured ‘Breathe’ to close things out for the regular version of ‘California Breed’.

For those of you chomping on the bit to get your copy of ‘California Breed’ when it its finally released on 19th May 2014 please note there is a bonus cut ‘Solo’ along with a DVD added to the Special Edition of the album. But you know what I’d really like to do is hear this album on? Vinyl, and I’d like it in a gatefold sleeve too please Mr Frontiers Records. I did say “please” after all.

Seriously I think this is some of the best vocals Glenn Hughes has recorded in quite a few years, it’s certainly his most soulful performance in a good few decades (I’ll refer you to my previous love of all things ‘Feel’ – see my original Black Country Communion review as evidence m’lord) and I think that this really has been largely made possible by the guitar playing of Andrew Watt – who I never once think “overplays” his part - and of course let’s not forget the seemingly unbreakable Jason Bonham.

This really is a powerhouse of a band sounding like they are ready to conquer the world, so come taste the California Breed brothers and sisters – trust me they are divine!

http://www.uberrock.co.uk/cd-reviews/24-april-cd/11167-california-breed-california-breed-frontiers-records.html

[SteveAJones]

Monday, March 17, 2014

California Breed - Well Worth The Wait, This Is A Brand New Breed - Review

Rock Ain't Near Dead - that's been my mantra for a while, and I am now more convinced than ever. California Breed is a fantastic album by a fantastic band. It's new breed, if you will - it doesn't sound like Deep Purple, Black Country Communion, or anything that preceded it. Hughes and Bonham have done some of their best work yet, and the avenue of guitar heroes has a new kid on the block in Andrew Watt.

Glenn Hughes was given lemons - and he squeezed the lemons until they produced a golden nectar. He picked the right few friends and they've done the near impossible in actually transcending what I had expected from this record. I spoke with Glenn a good bit in the aftermath of his last band, and I knew he had a certain fire in his soul, that fire you get when you've done your best and been burned. He did what should be done, he turned his intense pain and disappointment into love and hard work. He's just told me that this is his best work in 30 years, and I wholeheartedly agree.

A big question on a lot of minds - how's the guitar playing? The guitar playing is great, and is what makes this so very different than anything in the accumulated catalogues of the band's senior partners - Andrew Watt is a big, brash player who sounds like he was raised on Page, Ronson, and Bolan. Like he was born with a Les Paul in his hands. He's not a shredder, but he sure can play - he's a riff and song sort of guy as opposed to a soloist, but his solos burn for just that reason.

I love that beyond 'the voice of rock,' there is almost nothing to connect this to the deceased Black Country Communion - brilliant as it was, there's no point in rehashing, and there's none to be found here. This is a fresh, new beast that will surprise a great many listeners. Producer Dave Cobb turns out to be right choice behind the board - this sounds like one foot in rock's history, and the other is very much in this moment. Last year's near marriage between Hughes and the Stone Temple Pilots guys now makes much more sense to me. He's again reinvented his sound - the voice is still amazing, and his bass playing is sublime as ever, but you've never heard this before, this is a new suit with a great fit.

Jason Bonham. He's getting better and better - he says this is his finest work, and there is no question that he's right. He's got great technique, but he never makes it the point. Instead, he plays for the song - pushing, pulling, and pounding great performances out of his bandmates. Great drummers understand that their job entails driving the band and songs, shaping them to their will. Bonham obviously gets this, and it's obvious that his writing credits on every song are well deserved.

The songs....

The Way is probably the most familiar sounding riff on the record, but almost as soon as the words Led Zeppelin cross your mind, Hughes hijacks the tune and takes it for some very sophisticated maneuvering, spurred on by Bonham's thunderous assault. Watt is huge in the mix, and a lesser singer than Hughes may have gotten swallowed up by the tremendous wall of sound. This is going to be a hell of an opener when this bunch hits the stage. This is the way it should go.

A big beat and some swaggering guitar announces the arrival of Sweet Tea, and Hughes breaks out a little funk for the verses before a melodic pre-chorus dives in then gets pushed aside for some extremely cool, effected guitar that makes me miss the days when Aerosmith were still world beaters - Watt tears off his first solo, and it's a right dazzler, exciting and riveting. These guys are having fun. I'm having fun. This is rock.

Watt comes out swinging on the intro of Chemical Rain, and Cobb's presence is palpably felt in the mix - then we get quite psychedelic, as Hughes shows just how masterful a songwriter he's always been. He takes things in a different direction very abruptly, but it feels right - in fact, it feels great. This has a definite Page-y pace, and under the familiar moving guitar part Hughes plays some brutally cool bass. I was just talking to George Lynch the other day about the glory of certain singing bass players and their ability to play a line that is both separate from the guitarist and their vocal lines, and this is a sterling example - listen closely, kids.

Midnight Oil is the first single release, and it's a great example of the more modern side of the band. I've never heard Hughes accompanied by female background singers, but it works quite well. Watt supplies some elastic guitar that makes things swing nicely, and Bonham is pushing and pulling fantastically. The fuzzed out first guitar solo is one of the biggest tones I've heard since American Woman, and Watt's second solo is even hotter - here's where you can hear that the kid can flat out burn.

Things slow down for All Falls Down as Hughes pours out his soul and he continues to earn the title of 'The Voice Of Rock.' He takes it from a whisper to a beautiful bellow on the chorus, and the dynamics are lush and lovely. Lyrically his heart is on his sleeve, and the arrangement is perfect for the content. This is sophisticated and still sweet, a trick that only a master magician can muster. Are there still hit singles? I don't listen to the radio, but this is a hit single, and Watt's stunning solo reminds me of those old Journey smashes, in which things would seem so calm, and then Neal Schon would take us straight to the stratosphere with an epic onslaught of guitaristic beauty. This one's a classic.

The Grey is as close as Glenn Hughes has ever gotten to punk rock - of course, this band doesn't ever stay in one place for long and soon enough, it's off to the futuristic races. This album is as interesting as a Kubrick film - it takes us to places we've never been, and it's fascinating trip. Watt throws down another brilliant solo, and I see why the Ronson comparisons have been made. He's a thrilling player, fearlessly jousting with Hughes and Bonham, two of rock's hardest hitters and faring very well.

You've never heard Glenn Hughes do anything remotely like what goes on in Days They Come - he's going places even he's never been, and when you hear the chorus, you'll congratulate him for his bravery. To be pushing your creative limits at the age of 62 accurately defines how one should live, and our man Hughes is getting it right. Wear a helmet for the chorus of this one, it careens pretty wildly. Dave Cobb is great with choosing vocal effects, and they are fabulous on this one. No one's ever really thought of dressing up 'the voice' like this before, and it fits well.

Spit You Out is more in the vein of modern/indie rock, taking a Bowiesque ride that is very pleasantly retro nouveau. Think Ziggy in the 21st century. Crazy stuff, but trust me, it's a great journey. Glam gets good in 2014. Great guitar sounds abound as the kid breaks out all the right moves.

Strummed acoustic guitars on a Hughes record? Oh, hell yes, and on Strong they blend well with Watt's electric orchestrations and the chorus is even a bit Beatle-y. Pop leanings are a welcome thing, and this again is brand new territory - Bonham handles it well, and keeps the ship in its lanes with a bit of Moon-tastic drumming. Again, it sounds like they're having great fun, breaking down some walls and moving into new arenas, which is as it should be.

Heading down the backstretch, Invisible brings out the big guns, and all three of the Breed are riffing large before things slow down and Glenn's vocal floats above the brilliant din, and Watt's guitar playing is most expressive as it carries the vocal down the river. After their debut, Black Country Communion never made it again to this level of interplay between the members - this sounds like a band that enjoys itself. A glorious, joyful soundscape. Watt's leads are cool compositions of their own, and not just standard lead noodling. Great stuff.

Scars comes in on a wave of layered guitars and its sexy swagger is a welcome antidote to the down nature of our times. This cut is a perfect example of the age range of the band's members - you've got a solid connection to the past with some nice references to the black country history of Bonham and Hughes, but new kid Watt keeps this in place as a fine slice of modernistic rock. Excitement - that's a word I keep coming back to with this record. It's exciting, and I don't say that about too many records these days. I don't know where the songs are leading, and yet again, and again, they're thrilling me when I get to the destination.

More acoustic work accompanies Hughes on the intro to Breathe, and as things develop you hear where the singer has been headed ever since he returned to his rock roots back in 2010. I'm damned glad to have him back in this arena, because he's an artist - first, and foremost - he follows his muse faithfully, not stopping to pay heed to naysayers, or unbelievers. The man is true to his soul, and how many classic rockers can you say that about these days? He's got a team that is right beside him putting out 110% at every moment - nobody wants to pack up and go home, nobody's waiting around to get paid, and when you hear this tune fade, you'll just hit repeat.

California Breed is going to be tough to beat as the year progresses towards the inevitable top tens, and if you haven't pre-ordered this record yet, go ahead and do that now. You aren't going to want to be a day late for this party.

Glenn Hughes - congratulations, my friend. You took what could have been a hard setback, and you've turned it into a great success, and an inspiration for anyone who chooses to pay attention. I know what it took, and you passed with more than flying colors.

And, we have a new guitar hero in Andrew Watt - playing for the tune and the thrills is a beautiful thing.

Thanks to Glenn Hughes, Andrew Watt, Jason Bonham, and Peter Noble at Noble PR.

http://rockguitardaily.blogspot.jp/2014/03/california-breed-well-worth-wait-this.html