Customer Reviews

From the Reach

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a diehard fan since South of I-10. With each CD release, I'd say "No way can he top this one". Time and again he does just that. I believe many Sonny fans will agree that while he's widely known among his peers, he's seemingly unnoticed by the general public. While that is a shame, it has made Sonny approachable at many of his shows where he has proven time and again that he's a gracious human being.
When Eric Clapton appeared with Sonny onstage at Crossroads Guitar Festival (2), those who have seen the DVD have said "At last! Sonny is getting the recognition he deserves!"
For the subscribers of Slidelines, ([...]) we learned about and awaited eagerly for this CD. Now it's here and once again, his talent shines through.
Add into the mix the incredible talents of Eric Clapton, Robben Ford, Vince Gill, Dr. John, Jimmy Buffet, Mark Knopfler and more, makes this one of the best buys for your money. Every song is well-written, performed, and produced.
I'm always anticipating the next CD from Sonny, however, I can safely say that "From the Reach" will be played many, many times until then.

As a die hard Landreth fan, I sure got plenty of his incredible slide work on this cd. But the treat is the interplay of the different tones and styles of his guest guitarists and vocalists. This isn't one of those duet albums where guests join in on the hosts songs...Sonny wrote the individual songs for particular guests, and hearing their work highlighted against Sonny's slide guitar is just great. The sound is fantastic, and with Dave Ranson and Mike Burch providing the bass and drums, you get one of the best rhythm sections on the planet. 10 stars...5 for each ear.
zeke

Okay, the key things you need to know:
~This is the BEST Sonny Landreth album so far (considering the beauts he's recorded previously, that's saying a lot).

~While the guests add plenty of their own fragrant spices to the gumbo, the core flavor is Landreth: boiling blues rock, crisp zydeco riffs, meaty funk, and simmering, sinuous rills.

Every song on the menu is exciting in its own way: there are nuances of country and jazz and spacy electronica, along with a ballad to refresh the palate. It's all here, baby--everything you want from the slide master. You'll be lining up for seconds after the first taste!

I love the interplay between Mark Knopflers guitar and Sonny's slide work on "Blue Tarp Blues". I first heard it and thought that there was no way that the album could get any better.
Not that every song is better than the next, but there is not a dud on the entire CD.
The best tune is "Milky Way Blues"
An instrumental that just twists and turns and when it ends you are out of breath. I see this as a concert ending freestyle jam someday.

This is a great CD.

Sonny Landreth is an inspired songwriter and a brilliant musician. I have never understood why he isn't a much bigger star. At least now we know someone appreciates what a huge talent he is. And what a cast of "someones." Just look at the list of heavyweights who are die-hard enough fans to take the time to collaborate with Sonny on this project. Pretty impressive. But, although they all did beautifully interpreting the songs Sonny wrote with each of them in mind, this album isn't really about the guests. It is pure and wonderful Sonny. Buy it and you'll rock through the flooded streets of New Orleans, fly out to the galaxy and around the dark side of the howlin' moon, come back to the earthly nostalgia of love gone by and the pain of love leaving, then drift off to sleep with the beautiful lullaby which closes it all out. Check out the sample tracks. There isn't one hit-the-skip-button song on this album. They're all fantastic. The only problem I've found is that it's addictive! I can't seem to stop listening to it.

I'm a very new Sonny fan, after becoming aware of him only by seeing Clapton's Crossroads festival. Thank you Eric!! If there's such a thing as a perfect album, this is it. All the lyrics, playing, and production work together to create a moving and evocative experience that I cherish with every listen. I read online that Sonny's lyric writing is inspired by William Faulkner. How many songwriters can say that? Sonny is clearly, not only a huge talent, but an evolved human being, and I hope he finds the wider audience and popularity he so richly deserves.

The most amazing thing about this album is not just Sonny's razor sharp slide work, or his easy Louisianna tennor, but it's the way you can clearly hear the distict differences in the tone, the call and response between Sonny's Coricidin bottle and Vince Gill's hot Telecaster or Eric Clapton's signature growling Strat.

This is easily a blues guitar player's happy holiday. Both Mark Knofler's reverb drenched tone and Eric Johnson's sneering Strat are as easily distinguished as the gravel in Dr. John's voice, or the Jimmy Buffet's alto. The collaboration works. It works well.

The dream that came to me after listening the first time, was a live show that featured all of these artists in one place.

Perhaps that's just a bit Out of Reach...

I usually look at CDs with a lot of guest artists with some trepidation but I was pleasantly surprised. I expected great things from Mr. Landreth and in that I wasn't disappointed but the selections really suited the guest artists without the material sounding forced into their style - that speaks to the sensitivity and versatility that Sonny shows in pairing the material with the musicians. Excellent production values as well and Sonny's band is excellent.

when you're talking about slide-guitar greats, you have to include sonny landreth.
dwayne allman,george harrison,ry cooder,lowell george,robert johnson and roy rogers are among the best ever and i'm here to say that sonny is at the top of the list.
different styles i know, hard to say who's best?
not for me.
i think i've seen him and the goners live about 40 times or so(i lived in new orleans)and each time he's seems to just get better.
this new one is still growing on me,i'm not sure it's gonna be one of my top favorites yet.
hearing "south of i-10"(his sgt pepper), i thought he could'nt get better,but he is way out front of anyone else.
i've always thought of him this way.
sonny is just plain "outside the box".
i think,the greatest guitarist alive today,maybe of all time.

excellent cd.. sonny is one hell on a guitar player and singer!!! several great guest appear on this cd, but he doesnt need them, he does just fine on his own!!hope to see him live in the near future, have only seen him jamming with govt mule and on the eric clapton crossroads dvd....