Micki Free is perhaps best known to us here at Über Röck as the former guitarist with Crown of Thorns but right now he is back with the blues with his latest offering 'Tattoo Burn'.

Whilst Micki Free is hailed by all and sundry as a great guitar player, often compared to Hendrix - from the beginning of this CD I just don't get it. It's not that he isn't a good guitar player, it's just that I'm at a loss to explain where the Hendrix comparisons are coming from. Not even the 17 minutes of 'Voodoo Chile Blues' are enough to enlighten me.

There are other problems with this CD too. I think it lacks a vibrance and vitality due to staid drum programming which robs many of the songs of the feel they so desperately need. The vocals are okay but they're not great either and I'm just not feeling it, I'm not feeling anything from this album except a boredom with the blues. Mostly every instrument on this album is played by Micki and, I hate to say it, but that's got to be the main weakness in this album.

'Co-Co Gin' is pretty listenable though. A good tune, good changes coupled with some cool soloing from the organ and a Mark Knopfler-esque guitar style.

There's a brief reprieve from programmed drums in the second half of the album with some live playing on 'Voodoo Chile Blues' and 'Red House' but it lapses back on the last couple of songs.

It's true that I'm no big fan of brass tacks blues but I've an admiration for the Three Kings, Elmore James and a few others - all those that manage to stir me through their sheer force and fervor. A force that I fail to feel with this album.

www.mickifree.com

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