Customer Reviews

Soul Mover

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Good
Everything about the opening track "Soul Mover" emits soul. Right down to the smooth vocals, twangy guitar riffs, and driving bass lines. Tribal drum beats dominate "She Moves Ghostly". The song is sure to get your foot tapping and body moving. Glenn's vocals are quite empowering during that catchy chorus section. The guitars are quite subtle during most of the track, but then guest guitarist Dave Navarro cuts loose during the solo. Fuzzy, electronica style rhythms can be heard on "High Road".

Glenn is both seductive and funky with his delivery. Dual guitar licks and cosmic keyboard effects command the bluesy track "Orion". "Let It Go" is serine and passionate during the verse sections and intense and supercharged during the choruses. The fiery solo takes the track to a whole new level. "Dark Star" displays pure seventies wakka-wakka funk guitar. "Isolation" is full of so much emotion and feeling that it could bring a tear to your eye. This serenade builds to an eighties-style power ballad conclusion.

The Bad
Nothing

The Verdict
I heard so much about Glenn Hughes making a comeback in the last few years, so I decided to check out Songs in the Key of Rock. I was quite disappointed. To me he was still stuck in the 60s-70s rock time warp. On Soul Mover, Glenn has completely blown me away. He manages to draw from his admiration of 60s-70s blues rock, but gives it a modern rock touch, making it appealing to wider range of music fans. Glenn also seems to have put more time into his songwriting.

if you like rock played with soul and feeling the way it's supposed to be played then don't miss out on this awesome cd.
glenn just keeps on getting better with age. his voice is in
top form and the songs are very good. some of the arrangments
and vocals remind me of deep purple during the burn era.
i still don't understand why the u.s. hasn't caught onto this
awesome talent. glenn is regarded as the voice of rock and may i say rightfully so yet he still doesn't get the recognition he deserves by the public. do yourself a favor and buy this cd, but only if you like real music played by real musicians!!!!

Often heralded as the " Voice Of Rock" because of his incredibly strong yet soulful vocals, Glenn Hughes offers his 11th solo album entitled "Soul Mover". Glenn Hughes has been an artistically contributing member or linked with Trapeze, Deep Purple, Tommy Bolin, Hughes Thrall, Phenomena, Gary Moore, Tony Iommi, George Lynch, Hughes-Turner, and his own very prolific solo band. "Soul Mover" showcases Glenn on vocals and bass, long time guitarist and writing partner J J Marsh, keyboardist Ed Roth and former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Dave Navarro ex-Jane's Addiction, & ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist also makes a guest appearance on two songs.

"Soul Mover" is a progressive combination of high energy funk fused Rock and Roll, thoughtful song compositions and vocal virtuosity only deliverable by Glenn Hughes himself. Although all the songs are delightful, stand out tracks are " Soul Mover", "Let it Go", " Dark Star" and "Don't let me Bleed".

As an added bonus the Cd is enhanced with the video for the song "Soul Mover".

If you go back over the past 10 years of Glenn Hughes's solo recordings, you're going to be pretty impressed, no matter what you think his leanings should be. Whether he should be all Funk, or a mixture of Soul 'n' Roll, or completely Hard Rock,Hughes at least puts 100% of his creativity and talents into what you'll wind up hearing. And that's really all one can ask for from anything anyone is selling you. That they put as much effort in as possible, and that you're at least pleased somewhat, if not wholesale, by what you now own.

Going back to 1995, and the part reunion of Hughes / Thrall on Glenn Hughes's FEEL album, which was a mixture of AOR / Rhythm & Blues / Soul / Funk (plus some Hard Rock thrown in), to the aggressive ADDICTION from 1996, full of heavy guitars and growled vocals, or jump forward to 2001's Building The Machine, with its mixture of Hard Rock and Funk, Glenn Hughes puts a lot of effort into his albums. And throughout all of them is ''The So-Called Voice''. And it becomes maybe a cliche to the point that you're making people expect something they just may not hear when they buy a Hughes album. But the man can sing. He's a better vocalist now than he was in the 1970's. And seems to have lost none of the power that 30 years of singing suggests he should have lost by now. Kudos to Mr.Hughes.

Soul Mover seems to be an album that makes a few sacrifices here and there. This is only (I think), to welcome the Red Hot Chilli Peppers fans that may buy this album for Chad Smith's work on it. It may not be. It's not a 'full-on Hughes album', but it does serve as a great introduction to the non-initiated. And it possesses one of the catchiest tracks Hughes has ever written. ''High Road'' would/should/could be the next single from this album if I were given the power, and choice to do something with it. It's infectious, should appeal to ''pop'' fans and Audioslave fans alike. It was the song that made me start tapping my feet and get up out of the chair (forget trying to find the remote control!!!! No time!!!!) and replay the song again. It has a killer hook line and the 'perfect' beat. Personally, I would have released this first as the introduction to Hughes single. But 'Soul Mover' the title track definitely is no slouch either. And it has Dave Navarro (ex-Pepper) as lead guitarist.

But this album almost serves as an all phases of Hughes career album, which for the Hughes fan might seem inconsistent, but for someone unfamiliar, may work like a greatest hits of non-previously released material. From his Deep Purple days, to Black Sabbath, to Hughes / Thrall, to other aspects of his solo career, there is at least 1 song on this album that covers that territory. Songs like 'Let It Go' are reminiscent of Hughes era Black Sabbath, while 'She Moves Ghostly' recalls Burn era Deep Purple. 'Isolation' could easily fit on the Hughes/Thrall album, with its mixture of Hard Rock and Soul very evident throughout. The standout vocal track has to be 'Don't Let Me Bleed', which truly shows off the range this singer has. Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and even McCartney show up on this album, and even if the Hughes fan may feel a little let-down, a new fan might be persuaded to check out more of Hughes's back catalogue.

And of that back catalogue, I seriously recommend
FEEL (1995)
ADDICTION (1996)
RETURN OF CRYSTAL KARMA (2000)
BUILDING THE MACHINE (2001)

But since 1992, and his release from years of addiction, the man has put out an album on his own or with someone else (Tony Iommi, Joe Lynn Turner, Geoff Downes amongst others . . .) practically once a year. In fact, his album with Tony Iommi is due out later this year. It's a great advertisement for kicking ANY kind of addiction, because Glenn Hughes has been 10x the man he was back in his 20's. All the talent he had back then, seems to pale in comparison to the man we see today.

And if that's not an inspiring enough to make you purchase this latest Hughes album, I could always start pleading that you buy it. ;¬)

Special attention and note must go to Hughes's long serving guitarist / accomplice JJ Marsh, who co-writes a great number of these tracks, and is basically Hughes's right hand man. He has been for nearly 10 years now, and each album that is as unique for Glenn's vocal contributions to it, are as unique for Marsh's guitar leads and rhythms. A great guitarist always seems to be hanging around Hughes, no matter what decade it is. I just hope Marsh would be willing enough and brave enough to let Hughes go for one album, so Glenn could go do an album with Trevor Rabin!

Glenn Hughes has returned once again for a stunning album in Soul Mover. I must give a lot of credit to Glenn for turning his life around back in 1992 from battling recent drug and alcohol addictions he endured during the late 70's and throughout the 80's. I must also give credit to the KLF for recruiting Glenn who sang on their hit song "America: What Time Is Love?" It was that song that firmly cemented his comeback throughout the 90's not to mention them labelling Glenn as "The Voice Of Rock." A title he still cherishes to this day.

So after countless albums, all of which have been superb, Soul Mover soulfully moves into 2005 in a big way. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith features on this album as they've formed quite a friendship as of late. Dave Navarro also guests on a couple tracks. Rejoining Glenn is longtime guitarist JJ Marsh. His contribution to Glenn's albums has been rather impressive to say the least. An underrated musician Marsh really is. So glad that the guy has been working with Glenn for a long time not to mention the Hughes Turner Project albums also.

Well there isn't a weak moment on this album. There are some amazingly composed tracks including the title track, She Moves Ghostly, Orion, Let It Go, Dark Star, Land Of The Living (Wonderland) which is a favourite for me. High Road and Change Yourself are also fantastic tracks as is the closing track Don't Let Me Bleed. Glenn along with Chad and his fellow Chili's guitarist John Frusciante recently covered the Moody Blues classic Nights In White Satin for the Stealth movie soundtrack. This stunning cover is now included with a special Australian edition of Soul Mover. And there are hopes that Glenn will be in Australia next month. It's looking pretty unlikely as February is just around the corner.

Soul Mover is a superbly crafted album of soulfully funkified proportions. Glenn's voice certainly has improved with age and I look forward to what other endeavours he may pursue as the years go by. Soul Mover. Glenn's finest album in years.

I have been a Glenn Hughes fan for a number of years. I have listened to everything that he has put out from his involvement with Tidewater Grain, Alchemist, Nostradamus, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Gary Moore, Voodoo Hill, HTP, and Hughes/Thrall. His calling card has been "The Voice of Rock" for a number of years although he never tends to put out a "Rock" album in that sense. I was truly disappointed in his "Soulfully...." CD and DVD and made a decision to stop supporting Mr. Hughes by buying anymore of his CDs. Too much funk (his terms) and not enough rock on any one release to make a strong album. He tends to always put 3 or 4 slow and boring songs per album to bring down the strong songs making for an average listening experience at best. I have made 2 compilation CDs from his vast work and they are great but he has never put out a great or must own album. This "Soul Mover" is not an exception. It does have stronger songs and is more of a cohesive album than anything else he has done. It does get better with each listen because I truly wrote it off as just another Glenn Hughes album with the weak, mediocre, and strong songs but average album at best. It is better than average with 80% of the songs above average but not every song is a winner. I would say a "Must" for any Glenn Hughes fan. I have an old bootleg of the "Eighth Star" CD from years ago, is it worth getting DEP sessions 1996? If you are a Glenn Hughes fan, go check out "Ultimate Hughes", the 4 CD collection that puts all the rare and hard to find bonus tracks and his various record appearances and other projects all on one collection, a must have for the TRUE Glenn Hughes fan. It is listed as a collectible on Amazon under Glenn Hughes: The God of Voices Best of [Import], well worth the money. It sure beats trying to buy all that stuff separately.

I've been listening to Glenn for almost 35 years now and he is one of my all time favorite vocalists. In fact I've always preferred him to Coverdale and wonder what he would have sounded like with Gillan! And, even through all his ups and downs, his voice still sounds as soulful and powerful as ever.

He has many great albums (check out Hughes/Thrall if you haven't already) and I always look forward to a new release but this album stunned me upon first hearing it. It's darn good, almost on an entirely different level than the handful of albums that came before it. He was clearly rejuvenated and riding high on his increasing popularity many, I'm sure, being older fans finding their way back to him. I'm also sure the "guests" on this album helped as well.

There's not a single song that I would skip over but "She Moves Ghostly", "Orion", and "Change Yourself" all stand out and I will say, without any reservations, that "Let it Go" is nothing less than a masterpiece. The emotion and power of that song jump right out of the speakers at you and I would LOVE to hear/see a live version of it. Being about his drug addiction and subsequent recovery, this song is clearly important to Glenn.

His core band has never been better and Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is simply on fire!! As much as I hate to say it, this album is so good the next one (Music of the Devine) was kind of a let down. it'll be intersting to hear the next one.

With the release of both this and "Fused", his album with Tony Iommi, 2005 was a banner year for Hughes fans! If you are a fan you should be ashamed of yourself if you don't already own Soul Mover!! If you mainly know him from Deep purple and Trapeze and are curious about his solo released...here's where to start. If you aren't that familiar with his work and simply like good rock n' roll and/or great vocals, then get this album, get it immediately!! Now...if he'd start playing stateside somewhere other than NY, LA and Orlando...I'd be a happy man!!!

Man, Glenn Hughes has got to be exhausted; releasing Soul Mover, Fused (with Tony Iommi) and HTP II (with Joe Lynn Turner) all within a year of one another. But somehow his spirit and enthusiam has not waned, as this is possibly his strongest solo effort yet this century. Hughes seems determined to keep pushing the bar, and keeping vital by bringing in hotshot guitarists and in this case, a well established and respected drummer. The addition of RHCP's Chad Smith is a huge plus, his style meshes in nicely with Glenn's funked up hard rock leanings. Smith's rhythmic complexities add both punch and excitment not previously heard on Glenn's solo outings. Likewise, Dave Navarro's scorching solos on "Soul Mover" and "She Moves Ghostly" add a dose of chili pepper to already great songs.

The stongest songs are the bookends, the two mentioned above along with the nu-funk of "High Road" (catchiest song here), and the last two "Last Mistake" and the complex and emotional "Don't Let me Bleed." JJ Marsh is dependable as ever, and seems to be inspired by the injection he got from the addition of Navarro and Smith. This is especially heard during the brilliant solos from the retroreflective-come-stomper "Let It Go" and funky "Dark Star." Marsh has to be credited for never letting any of the songs drop off, as there is neary a weak track to be found, which is probably the first time this is the case in the last three or four Hughes platters.

Soul Mover is a fine step forward... not the product of a classic rock icon on cruise control. Now just think if he could get all his past and present guitarists together for one all-star jam session. Wishful thinking perhaps, but Glenn has a way of turning up where you'd least expect.

To all Glenn Hughes fans, just buy it! This is anything and everything you could ask for in a Glenn Hughes record. This guy is just one of the worlds greatest musicians, with every record he releases he out does himself. If you are new to Glenn Hughes or a fan of fantastic Hard Rock this is a great place to start. Standout Tracks- Soul Mover, She Moves Ghostly, Orion, Let It Go. Also Glenn has a line up of extrodinary musicians on this record. Chad Smith(Red Hot Chili Peppers) his drumming can stand up right along with Bill Ward(Black Sabbath)and Neil Peart of Rush.

Even though "Dark Star" was the easiest to listen too (for me) and "Let it Go" was spacey and interesting, the CD
is very noisy overall. When I compare it to AC/DC or Zeppelin there is no doubt I will not play this very often. I wish they could filter out the noise and keep the standards somewhere close to songs like "The Ocean" by Zeppelin. The video of "Soul Mover" was pretty powerful and was helped by the visual, but without it (to me), it won't last long in my cue list.