Short Reviews [Joe Macre - 2021 - "Bullet Train"]

To anyone really into progressive rock then the name Joe Macre is immediately recognizable, and if you have no idea who he is then you need to seek out the 1975 debut of Crack The Sky, which Rolling Stone Magazine placed in their list of 50 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time. He started work on this album in 2018, and invited in friends to help him out, including Chris Elliott and Jerry Oxendine of 86 Bullets, Pete Hewlett (Billy Joel), Jeff Adams (Facedancer), John Palumbo, Rick Witkowski, Jimmy Griffiths, Bobby Hird and Joey D’Amico (Crack The Sky) and many more. The result is something which is steeped in the blues, with hard-hitting rock numbers imbued with the swagger and groove of that genre. There are times when we almost move into Southern Boogie, others where he cannot help but let some proggy elements in, and the result is a blue-collar hard-working album which in some ways makes me think of classic Bachman Turner Overdrive. Even though there are different singers and musicians involved, there is a strong continuity within the album, and it certainly comes across way more as a band than a project. The harmonica wails, the guitar duels with it, the vocals are passionate and then just ahead of the drums is that bass, sometimes following a simplistic pattern and at others taking the music in a new direction. There is nothing stressed about this, it really feels like a group of mates having a beer and laying it down in the studio, which makes it feel earthy and real. There is nothing plastic about this, here we have music which has come out of the ground with everyone solidly involved for no other reason then letting the sound out of their soul. Raw, gritty and a whole lot of fun.