THE THUNDERTHIEF

3.5 stars. John Paul Jones is such a talented man when it comes to music. He was a very much "in demand" session musician and arranger long before he formed LED ZEPPELIN with Jimmy Page. I'm such a huge fan of his previous solo album called "Zooma" and this one kind of follows the same template but he's added vocals(his own) and it just seems like everything pales a little when compared to "Zooma". John Paul pretty much does it all here but he did get a drummer to help him out throughout. We get two guitarists adding their talents to one track each including Robert Fripp on the opener. Nick Beggs adds Chapman stick to the opener and "Shibuya Bop" two of the better tracks for sure.

"Leafy Meadows" is my favourite, I mean it just grooves heavily with Beggs and Jones creating a powerful rhythm section with the drummer. Fripp arrives before 40 seconds and just impresses like he usually does the rest of the way. The title track is a top four opening with thunder and rain before we get this uptempo sound with vocals which is unfortunate. "Daphne" is also a top four as we get some power on display here in this mid-paced mostly instrumental. "Shibuya Bop" is the final top four and man these four songs are so good. Check out Beggs and Jones on this one! An uptempo barn burner with some organ later.

The biggest letdown for me is "Angry Angry" a punk inspired tune with terrible vocals and lyrics. Just blows me away that people like this style of music. A lame track that I actually despise(haha). "Down To The River To Pray" and "Freedom Song" are both bluesy and laid back, stripped down tunes. "Ice Fishing At Night" sounds like a bad idea but the song is kind of cool. Reserved vocals and piano mostly. "Hoediddle" is a good one and the longest at 7 minutes. Mandolin dominates late but early on the guitar arrangements really impress.

This is a good one with a very unfortunate 6 minute track called "Angry Angry".