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Reviews

Joe Macre — Bullet Train
(Bandcamp Joe Tunes 1-95269-06390-0, 2021, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2021-08-08

Bullet Train Cover art

Crack the Sky is not a band I hear discussed much in progressive rock circles, which is a shame, as several of their albums are real American classics. I’ve always really enjoyed their first three studio albums, and Photoflamingo (1981) does a good job of updating their style for the 80s without over-simplifying. Joe Macre played bass on those first three albums, and has been involved in a few of their other releases as well in the decades since, but Bullet Train is the first of his solo work I’ve heard. He’s got a bunch of producing credits to his name (including some of the later Crack the Sky albums and a host of TV commercials and soundtracks), and recorded this album at his own American Garage Studios. He gets support from several members of his old band as well as numerous others. While the style of these ten songs is clearly an extension of classic rock and roll, he’s got a knack for taking the tropes of blues rock and 70s hard rock and making them sound fresh — something Crack the Sky managed to do as well. It’s really hard to nail down why a song like “Slow Ryder,” which has a pretty stock blues-rock structure and instrumentation, doesn’t sound like a rehash of something we’ve heard a thousand times before, but Macre manages it. “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz provides an unexpected diversion followed by a new version of “Safety in Numbers,” which Macre co-wrote with Rick Witkowski for Crack the Sky’s third album. Bullet Train is a testament to the enduring appeal of well-played and intelligent rock music that combines serious craft with a sense of fun and an appreciation for the genre’s history.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Joe Macre

More info
http://joemacsamericangarage.bandcamp.com/album/bullet-train-3

 

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