****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The title Back in Twenty is an artist making fun of his own career. Although Gary "US" Bonds hasn't been gone for twenty years, he released an excellent live album few years back, this is the first studio effort since the Springsteen endorsed albums of the eighties. Springsteen was not involved in the production of this album aside from him playing guitar and singing background on the opening track. The album is an exiting event nonetheless.Like the opening track You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks warns us, nothing new is to be expected. The record even sounds more of a straightforward R&B effort than his legendary Legrand singles. This doesn't stop Bonds one minute. The record sounds exciting and joyous. Gary is committed to the music and his voice is in very good shape. It even gained some grit over the years. The new grainy voice suits tracks like Bitch/Dumb Ass with Phoebe Snow and Every Time I Roll the Dice, to a tee. When Gary tackles Otis Redding's Dreams to Remember we are once again reminded that he was one of R&R great unfulfilled promises.
