Customer Reviews

New Ground

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

 

 

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise's new Album titled "New Ground" is a spectacular recording. There is not one song that fails to either move one emotionally or physically. Even if one may in some measure disagrees or not completely understand a songs overall statement (like Profile), one can still find a measure of connection with a tune. That is a hard thing for most artist to accomplish; get people to enjoy a tune they may not clearly undertsand or agree with, but still enjoy and feel the artist position.

Many of the songs are just plain fun rock/soul/blues ballads about romance, love, and life. The genius in this talented group is to make a string of singles in one albumn that enrichly come together, but that can also stand on its own. Listening to this CD, I find it hard to pick a favoriate. No song in this CD is skipped and one gains most of their enjoyment by listening to it from beggining to end.

I hope that this oustanding group gets more exposure and air time. It is an outstanding CD with a great vocal and musical mix. This CD makes one's body groove, move and sing to.

I bought this CD after hearing one cut(Train) on the radio.I usually always regret doing that after hearing the entire CD, but not this time. Robert Bradley's voice is amazing. He ain't the smooth pop crooner. It's rich, ragged, and soulful and able to wrap around each song and melody. Whether wailing a lament or getting soft and sweet, he always gets it true.

The band is good, more than proficient, and get in some good licks. I get the feeling that Bradley's vocals and the band's chops really get off on each other. I was also surprised but the very classy production. Each song seems to have it's own sound, tempo, mood that sets it apart from the other tracks.

Good work! I look forward to more great music from these guys.

I'm 39 years old. After listening to this CD, my dreamy trip back in time was over and I longed for more. You remember the days when things were fine and simple and everything seemed great? It was melodic, soulful, grooving, and it rocked. It personally holds a special place in my heart because of it's nostalgic properties. I can relate to what Robert Bradley is saying in his lyrics - they convey something that is pure, honest and true. Robert delivers a good mixture of moods and topics and sings [...]. He even pays tribute to this great country in the CD's closing song, "Born In America" - It's a laid back groove that takes me back in time on a trip of my great life in America and escalates to a closing instrumental jam of dreamy harmonica, keyboard, guitar/bass and drums. All the musicians are fantastic! The backing vocals are superb as well. Not to mention the nature drenched sound effects (dogs and crickets) which evoke a nice sunny afternoon or moonlit night somewhere in a beautiful countryside. Thanks for the great album, guys ..Your music really struck a chord with me!

"New Ground" is definitely what RBBS are on with their third album. This amazing album maintains the soulful roots of their previous works, but the change of recording label has brought a much richer sound. There is not a bad track on the album from the Lenny Kravitz like funky "Profile" to the smooth seductive "Feel the Fire" and hypnotic "Ride my wave".
"Born in America" is a touching song, which I'm sure was partially inspired by Roberts journey from street musician, to full fledged recording artist singing with the likes of Kid Rock ("Time to Discover" album), and the somewhat lesser known Max the dog on this album (track 4).
If you live in the Detroit area be sure to catch these guys at one of their regular shows, they are amazing. I get a gut feeling that this band will be going places fast, and won't be playing small venues for too much longer.

Every once in awhile you come across an artist you haven't heard before and the music just moves you. For me, this happened with Blackwater Surprise. The sound, the lyrics, the tempo, and the emotion just click on every one of the tracks. No gimmicks and no record company schmaltz here. Just honest, moving music from the heart. It's about as much soul as any white guy from rural Minnesota could ever hope to need.

amazing album - embodies the true spirit of rock and roll - loose, honest, straight forward and let-it-bleed LOUD

When we stumbled upon this relatively unknown group after the release of their last CD, , we were flat-out knocked-out by them. Naturally we would have expected this album to be a prime pick as well. And, though this is a good album, it simply falls short in a couple of ways. First, it appears that some personnel changes have disrupted the chemistry and neither the material nor the performances nor the production are as strong as last time out. Although the band continues to take chances by pushing 60s and 70s style soul music into the 21st century with daring and interesting production choices(ergo the album's title, we suppose), some of these choices distract more than support. More disturbing, the recording itself seems to take Bradley's amazing voice and to muffle, bury, or distort it. This is unwise. It is akin to having Julia Roberts star in one's movie dressed in a burqa. Nevertheless, as we are certain that Ms.Roberts' sparkling smile would somehow still manage to shine through, so do Bradley's gritty, stirring vocals--as powerful as any in soul music today and reason enough to purchase this album.

I never heard of Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise until we received a new tape at work one day to play in the store, and two songs from this album were on it. Once I heard them, I had to find out what this band was all about. I'm so glad I did too. I now own two of their CDs, and I love them. Robert Bradley has soul and his voice will amaze you. From old country mixed with blues to upbeat soul and funk. RBBS has it all.

This was the first time I had ever heard of Robert Bradley's cd I think he is great...Great voice and makes me feel good.Very glad I purchased this cd...