Customer Reviews

Long Time Coming

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(50)
1 star:		(67)

 

 

If you want the old one trick pony Jonny Lang, don't pick this up.
However, if you want a cd of an extremely talented young artist branching out, the by all means get this album.
I see all these reviews trashing the album...It's just ignorance. It became clear on "Wander This World" that Jonny was moving away from being a straight blues artist.
What you really find on this album is a some real depth and maturity. His guitar playing doesn't overshadow the songs anymore. If you want a solo during every song, this may not be for you. If you want tasteful phrasing and killer timing, then get this!
While his other albums have more guitar solos, this album has much more actual guitar work on it. From the rhythm guitars to the different lead guitars textured in, this album is a a production masterpiece. It is clear that Jonny's guitar playing is much more mature. There is careful restraint-Touch-(which only comes from maturity...you don't just play the notes...you play the silence as well), as well as unbridaled passion-Dyin' To Live. Too many people are viewing the lack of solos as a bad thing. Well, there is much more to guitar than soloing. That he has grown much on his main instrument, is obvious.
Jonny's vocals have never sounded better. This goes for his live shows as well.
Is this album forgettable? Only if you want Jonny to remain that 16 year old blues prodigy who has to solo for 2 minutes in every song.
However, if you want something more mature, and progressive...and not completely "old hat"...If you want something that is 1000 times more thoughtful than his other albums, then Long Time Coming would be a great add to your collection.
Don't get this if you are looking for a blues album, though.
Blues, it is not. Rocking, and soulful it is.

I am a long-time follower of Jonny Lang, and I have seen him live a few times, including one appearance last summer when rumors of his new album began to fly. I saw a shade of what was to come during that incredible performance - much more of an R&B tilt to the music than blues.
If you read some of Jonny's recent interviews, he basically states that while he loves and appreciates the blues, he just doesn't feel that his music needs to take that form at this time in his career... heck, even Clapton had his rock (and country!) moments.
That said, I believe that those who are giving this CD poor reviews simply because it "isn't blues" are narrow minded. This CD is not a blues CD. Jonny didn't want it to be. What it is is a great example of really solid rock and R&B songwriting by someone who really is too young to have any business writing music this good! From the anthemic opening track to the decent Stevie Wonder cover, this album is pretty decent. It has some low notes interspersed amongst moments of brilliance - I'm not going to nit-pick and say which verses or notes I don't care for because I recognize that my opinion does and should hold little sway with most... all I will definitely say is that this is a solid effort from a talented musician who chose to take his music in a different direction than he had previously taken.
Give it a chance... you won't be disappointed!

If you expect Jonny to never change from the 15 year old kid he was when he first started recording, then do not buy this cd. He is married and 21 now, I believe, and his music has matured along with him. This is an outstanding, eclectic cd. A liitle of everything, and Jonny's vocals have grown from his trademark growl to just an all-around outstanding voice that can hit anything. I love the songwritingon this cd and the songs as well. Like I said, if you want nothing but old Jonny Lang, then don't buy the new Jonny Lang, he recorded the other stuff over 5 years ago.

Wow, am I impressed with the sound of this CD. I hadn't heard anyhting out of Jonny for like 5 years, and that was on the Disney Channel for crying out loud. Like him, his music has matured a lot. There is a lot more variety to his sound than before, making it more enjoyable for a larger audience. He still has some of the blues-guitar sound, but other songs have some soul and straight up rock. My favorite tracks are #5 ("Touch"), #9 ("Save yourself"), #13 ("Dying to Live") and his cover of "Red Light" (#2). But the entire CD is awesome. Its all I've listened to since I got it a few days ago. A must for your CD collection.

I purchased this cd hoping for the same level of enthusiam Jonny generated in "Lie to Me" and "I Wander This World" and am really diappointed. What happened? It's almost as if he longed to join the ranks of the boy bands. Everyone is entitled to try something new, but it's a shame to mess around with a winning sound. If you liked "Lie to Me' and "I Wander This World", you might want to pass on this one.

Jonny Lang blues fans should save themselves the agony and avoid this unfortunate diversion into pop rockdom by one of the best young bluesman around. A cross at times between Jon Seceda and the Backstreet Boys, Lang romps over mostly teen-pop territory--satisfying if you follow the likes of the aforementioned groups, but very disappointing if you are a real Chicago-style electric guitar blues afficianado like myself. I won't go into specific tracks, since not one of them measures up to virtually any of the tunes on Lang's other CDs, in terms of blues, at least. Looking for a good blues CD by another up and coming guitarist?--try any of Bonamassa's 3 CDs--all rival Lang's best, and put "long Time Coming" to shame--Lang should have spent a little bit longer still, perhaps in search of another producer.

About 3 years ago I found Jonny Lang in a search of Blues Artists. I bought "Lie To Me" and was blown away - Jonny was truly a Child Prodigy with guitar chops and a voice that sounded more like a grizzled pro of 35 rather than a 16 year old kid. I was so impressed I bought his previous release "Kid Jonny Lang and the Big Bang Smokin'" - not bad, and I believe he was only 14 when this was recorded. I anxiously awaited his next release and predicted outstanding things.
However, Jonny's next release, "Wander This World", was not the raw-edged Blues I was expecting, but rather a foray into mainstream rock. None of the tracks were exceptional. No hammering guitar leads, no emotion either, the whole thing seemed flat. What happened?
After a long and much anticipated wait, I bought "Long Time Coming" and have to say I was disappointed. While there is much to recommend this CD, in many ways it is a let-down.
Jonny, let me ask you straight... dude, what are you thinking? You established yourself as a great Blues man - tremendous guitar chops, good vocals, laid down some memorable Blues stuff and were widely recognized in this arena.
While I like a number of the tracks on "Long Time Coming" and some of the instrumental parts are excellent, it is unclear what you are trying to present here - who is the target audience? Possibly you have the luxury of recording what you like, as opposed to what might be popular, I don't know.
But I would advise you to get back to your roots and record some down-and-dirty Blues. If you read the other reviews here at Amazon, that seems to be the central theme - that's what people want, and they feel let down you didn't give it to them. Hey, you can play these tracks in your live performances, they are good, but if you are not going to release what people want to hear and buy, your recording days will soon be over because no one will buy your CDs.
Why fight it? Why not at least go back to your roots for the next release, else people will lose interest in your music. Actually, I already have. I'm not sure I'll buy his next CD. Too bad. What a great beginning he had.

Jonny Lang's new album, Long Time Comming, seemed to be just that. I was anxiously awaiting its release. Lie To Me is one of my favorite albums, and while I liked Wonder This World, I felt that it was not a great follow up album, so my hope turned to Long Time Coming to be a great blues follow up. This it is not. Jonny Lang's voice, in my humble opinion his greatest asset, has really matured, and it is sounding excellent. The voice has more depth and feeling in it thant it did on his earlier releases. If his voice is so good then why the 3 stars? Simply becasue he has abandoned his roots and his sound. This is not a blues album. There are some hints of blues on it, however it is more of a pseudo R and B album, with a lot more mellow type songs. It sounds a lot like just about any song you'd here on your local MIX radio station. While a decent album, if you are looking for great grab a beer and go dancing in the lawn type blues album, this is not it.

I was blown away in 1997 when I first heard "Lie to Me". I couldn't believe this kid was only 16. There was so much emotion in his voice and his blues guitar playing was excellent! I let all my friends listen to it and they loved it too. I then found a copy of "Smokin" (Jonny's first CD) and was equally impressed. I couldn't believe how much raw talent he had. Then in late 1998, Jonny released "Wander This World" and it was a giant leap forward branching off into styles of soul, R&B, gospel, and straight ahead rock. Why the album didn't sell 5 million copies is just plain wrong. I saw him headline in Providence, RI and he put on a great show. Then I waited for a new release and was wondering what happened to this great talent. Well the wait is finally over after 5 years and I'm blown away again. His voice has gotten better, the songwriting is top notch and of course the guitar playing is superb. It's not a straight blues record but that's OK because this guy is proving he can do anything!

After a week of listening to this long awaited CD, and really wanting to like it as much as I did his last disc, I'm sorry to say that this one will not be dominating my player the way "Wander This World" did. I wrote a brief review last week, stating that we shouldn't hold Jonny's style evolution against him. The problem is, the new style is too POP, and pop just doesn't last. Perhaps Lang is after a wider audience, probably at the record company's urging, or maybe the boy's just playing from his heart, (cause God knows, he's wearin' his sappy heart on his sleeve through most of this disc), but after repeated listenings I find myself hitting the skip button more and more. Jonny, I'm not asking you to return to roots blues, but give us more good music and less "stomp-clap pop". On the bright side... at least he didn't turn to RAP.