Joe Walsh sure does like singing about himself. And you know what? I sure do like listening to Joe Walsh sing about himself!
On "Analog Man," his first studio album in 20 years, Joe Walsh uses ten songs as his own personal therapy session by letting the listener know exactly where he's been and what he's been through for the past 2 decades.
Walsh is one of the fortunate ones. While many of his peers have succumbed to the demons of drugs and alcohol, Joe has overcome his problems with the bottle. He has a high profile band career with the Eagles, a rejuvenated solo career and is now living a clean and sober existence for the first time in a long time.
Joe sings about his life and what's important to him. Songs like "Family" and the ode to getting sober "One Day At A Time" could have easily come across as corny or to "on the nose" but I found them to be truthful and charming.
Walsh is not above name checking himself either if it works for the song. On "Lucky That Way" his name becomes a running lyric in the form of "And when someone says hey Joe ..." This type of song writing might not work for a lot of artists, but for Joe Walsh it just seems like a natural fit for his personality. And, to be honest, Walsh actually comes across as just an "ordinary average guy."
The production on "Analog Man" was handled by Walsh and Jeff Lynne (ELO, Tom Petty, The Traveling Wilburys) and the collaboration works perfectly; so perfectly that I think Lynne, Petty and Dylan should give Joe Walsh a call and think about a Traveling Wilburys reboot! Maybe call up Sir Paul too! I'm sure at this stage of his career McCartney would love to do a cool band project again.
Other stand-out tracks on "Analog Man" include the title track, "Wrecking Ball, and a nice sequel to the classic "Funk #49" by way of the brand-new "Funk 50."
"Analog Man" is fun, inspired and definitely feels like a friend you haven't seen for years has just walked through your front door. Yep, I can see you grinning ear-to-ear just like Joe would.
Drumroll please... 8 out of 10 drumsticks!!
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