Veteran bluesman Alan Greene and his band have been kicking around Northeast Ohio for decades now. Greene and his terrific band are in good form on this studio release. The raucous album opener "Little Black Mark" has ZZ Top-like swagger as Greene kicks out the jams. Greene is at his best when he goes for a rougher and tougher sound. He gets down and dirty on his cover of "Who's Been Talking," and he finishes off the slow-starting "True Love" with a nasty guitar solo. The high-energy guitar and harmonica solos make for a potent one-two punch in the grunge-y "Angel Love," a tune that Santana has covered. The ballads here aren't as compelling, and "Lonely Nights" and "My Little Girl" fall a bit flat, but the rest of the tunes provide a good approximation of Greene's killer live show.
The Alan Greene Band opens for John Mayall at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
