21 June 2022
IL Blues Magazine Brava “Badder to the Bone” review
il blues magazine Badder to the Bone pure review 2022
“Born in a context of fear and contamination, in two decades, Eliza Neals has been able to make all those suggestions and teachings that a historic musical capital like Detroit can grant you. The decades-long tradition of the city has been absorbed in all its forms by integrating into a passionate character dominated by an innate grit and marked energy.
The rock soul was immediately one of her most recognizable brands and Eliza continues to present it in the new project also thanks to the contribution of musicians such as Lance Lopez particularly linked to a strong and decisive expressive language.
The tradition, however, the one linked to the blackest sounds of Afro-American culture, inevitably Motown, is made live through clear melodic lines and an artist’s flexibility that is always present. In a work where Neals’ pen has an avenue importance, the combination of sensitivity and spontaneity become the incorruptible beating heart of “Badder to the Bone.”
Ten tracks, nine originals and an incessant alternation of sounds and melodies in a sort of “Russian rhythmic montage” where the common thread remains the strong rock matrix. The system gives ample breath to Eliza’s powerful and beautiful vocal, always good at expressing the various colors of her emotions in her vocal cords. The talent of the author does the rest by anchoring the writings to convincing roots of tradition.
A never calculated genuineness that clearly expresses what the character of this artist is. Among the most evocative songs there are “Queen of the Nile” slow all pathos and sweat together with Lance’s guitar, the frenzied and pulled “king Kong”, “Fueling Me Up” ballad with southern flavors with clear references to gospel and “Heathen “which with its decisive soul connotations makes the most hidden nuances of Neals’ song better appreciated.
“Can’t find my way home,” the only cover proposed, departs from the unattainable role of Steve Winwood, for a more country-oriented reinterpretation. Today for many artists innovation or the creation of who knows what new sounds become a sort of constant obsession: fortunately this is not the case.
Ultimately we are dealing with a true album, in some ways pure (even in its few defects), where the music finds its real place. Bravo Eliza!”
for IL Blues Magazine June 2022
Thank You Simone, its always beautiful to hear from you and your marvelous understanding of my undertaking of “Badder to the Bone”
Share Post
