Customer Reviews

Winter of 88

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

 

 

This CD has a couple of the most wonderful guitar blues songs ever recorded. Namely, "Anything For Your Love" (which interestingly shows that JW is in the next league up from Eric Clapton when it comes to pure blues. EC recorded the same song on "Journeyman", and side-by-side, there is no comparison). "Rain" is another phenomenal song, as are numerous others. "Just Like A Woman" is trite and backwards, and the last two songs seem to have been added as filler. But if you want that gut-wrenching, soaring blues guitar, this is a must-have CD. I have been a JW fan from the 60's and I know his whole body of work. This one is a killer.

This is a solid recording by Winter; focusing on the rocking side of the blues. No real down home blues here, just rock, with Winter cutting loose on a number of traditionals and a few originals. This is not a CD of serious, thoughtful blues; rather, this is just a good old fashioned "let it loose" rocker. When he is on, Winter has a wonderful talent for bringing out the best in songs. His guitar and voice are in fine form here, and while it may not satisfy a traditionalist, it is more than adequate for the fan of blues with a rocking edge.

If you are a fan of contemporary, electric blues guitar this album is as good or better than anything on the market. Many fans consider Winter's first album to be his best, but the playing on Winter of '88 is much more refined and sophisticated. Winter plays and sings with incredible grit and passion, and his guitar tone is much meatier and heavier than many previous albums. His encyclopedic knowledge of blues licks is displayed with beautiful touch and spontaneity, much of the content seemingly unique to this work. The evolution of Winter's slide playing manifests fully on a number of cuts, most notably "Lightnin." If only Duane Allman had played for 20 more years, Winter might have had an electric slide rival. Awesome, face-melting blues baby.

I own many blues CD's and almost the entire Johnny Winter catalog and I must say that this is a standout CD. On track after track Johnny shows us why he is considered one of the greatest blues guitarists/singers of all time. If you only buy one Johnny Winter CD for your collection, this would be the one. A constant source of enjoyment.

This was the way Winter and most Blues artists sounded in the late 1980s. I can't see why some people disregard this album since alot of Blues artists were jumping on the commercial bandwagon e.g Robert Cray, Son Seals,Eric Clapton in 1988-1990. The sound has been mixed low and perhaps is abit overproduced/gimmicky but then even J.L. Hookers stuff in 1990 sounded the same.
At times the concept reminds me abit of Johnnys 1975 "John Dawson Winter the 3rd" and the choice of material is similar as it's right smack between rock & Blues. But there are plenty of high points and some scorching guitarwork. My favorite track is "I Looked Away" which has a slight Tony Joe White "swamp" feel and a long guitar solo.(abit like "Suzie Q" in places) "Rain" is a minor blues /rock song with some nice lyrics. "Close to Me" and 'Anything for your love" are typical of the type of output from most Bluesmen in 1988...infact Eric Clapton covered the latter song on his album "Journeyman" maybe a year or two later.(didn't do it as well as JW)
"World of Contradictions" has Johnny stepping back into the Muddy Waters mode. A slow , slide guitar blues. One of the extra tracks is a number that Johnny had as part of his repertoire back in 1974 i.e. the Memphis Slim hit "Mother Earth". One of the greatest Blues songs ever written by Willie Dixon. Winter pulls out all stops on this one and burns up his fretboard. Nice to see a song once covered by Jerry Lee Lewis ."It'll Be Me" being done by Winter. A touch of country in this song.
All in all a nice, but perhaps, dated album by todays standards.
But there's still LOTS of great guitar work done at a time when he was in his element and prime.

This recording was made after Winter's superb heavy blues Alligator recordings "guitar slinger", "serious business" and "third degree".

It was done with a major label (MCA or RCA) which many blues critics labeled as a "commercial blues rock record" (read sellout).

It is certainly not like any of these current "commercial" "blues" songs being played on the radio today which many of are nothing but blues guitar licks and blues vocals added to pop songs.

"Winter of 88" ranges from funky blues, ala 80's Buddy Guy, to soulful searing blues, ala Otis Rush with a touch of rock added to the mix that is enhanced with terrific song writing.

It is a tad more rock oriented than "Winter II" or his Alligator Stuff.

To use a Stevie Ray Vaughan comparison, it is a tad more blusier than "texas flood".

In fact the song "rain" would have been a radio staple by now if Stevie Ray had of played it, and not, at that time, played by a "44 year old fart from the 70's"

I generally don't give 5 stars but it is how a "commericial" blues recording should be made.

If there was a 10 star rating, this would get 9.5/10

This is an easy going blues-rock album, it's upbeat and fun. Johnny's heavier blues albums are GREAT too! Variety is a good thing. Ignore the review by Johan from Brussels, this guy thinks Johnny is dead. Hey buddy jump on a boat to America and catch Johnny on his current tour in support of his new album "Bluesman", just don't stay to long.

Order shipped even though it was cancelled. No response to e-mails and long wait for credit. Do not do business with these people!

it's not worth a penny more than $9.00 however...
because it's trash blues you can pick up anywhere...

This has got to be the worst album Johnny Winter ever released ! After 3 succesfull albums at Alligator, Johnny signed for MCA Records, who released this album on their Voyager-label. As soon as this album came out, he left MCA and joined Virgin/Pointblank instead. I, for one, am not surprised ! He probably turns in his grave anytime someone plays this CD ! What you get here is a "commercial" form of blues-rock, which is really below par all the way ! It's like someone told Johnny not to play too loud, otherwise he might wake the neighbours ! Did they give him Prozac before recording this album, or what ? Third-rate guitar-playing from a man who could usually set the house on fire with his guitar, absolutely trivial lyrics, ... Oh, my goodness, I just can't believe how much of a disappointment this album is ! Go to his Alligator or Pointblank Cd's, even to his albums for Columbia, but forget you ever heard about this lousy CD !