Glenn “The Voice” Hughes turned 74 last Thursday and we at Velvet Thunder are happy to celebrate this rock icon reviewing his fifteenth solo album Chosen, coming out in two weeks. Chosen happens to be the first Hughes solo album since 2016’s Resonate, but this is not surprising, given the fact he has released two albums with Black Country Communion, two other with The Dead Daisies and one with Joe Satriani in-between. I really hope you don’t need further explanation about who Hughes is and why his moniker is “The Voice”. The legendary albums he has recorded with rock institutions like Trapeze, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Phenomena, as well as his two albums with Tony Iommi, speak for themselves.
Chosen is a nice surprise for me with its heavy sound and guitar riffs, definitely among Glenn’s more hard rocking collections of songs. Chosen, Heal and In The Golden form a one-two-three punch in the middle of the album with just amazing melodies, choruses and a fat sound. Drummer Ash Sheehan forms a brutal rhythm section team with Glenn’s bass, but the playing of Søren Andersen (Electric Guitars, Mike Tramp, ex-Artillery) really shines throughout. In The Golden, in particular, could well sit in either of the Iommi albums with Hughes. It’s that good.
The Lost Parade hits with a gut-wrenchingly heavy guitar riff, while Hot Damn Thing is a funky rocker, with a stellar multi-voice chorus. I can’t find enough praise for Glenn’s vocals in this new album. This man is possessed by his tremendous talent, his range and depth even better that in the Seventies. Unbelievable! Black Cat Moan is another groovy, bass-heavy, rocker that demands audience participation, then Come And Go is more melancholic and bluesy, showing another beautiful side of Hughes’ compositional prowess, topped with a fantastic solo by Andersen.
Into The Fade closes the album on a high note, with an up-tempo riff and another set of masterfully crafted melodies and power chords. Glenn Hughes shows us once again he is a force of nature. The only worrying thing for me as a fan was him recently mentioning Chosen might be his last hard rock album but even if that’s true, I couldn’t enjoy this music less. “The Voice” has served another rocking masterpiece for all of his fans and he plans to sing his lungs out for you soon on tour.
9/10
Chosen will be out on September 5th and can be ordered from HERE
Information about tour dates in Europe and tickets is available HERE
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