Has it really been a score of years from the time Joe Bonamassa debuted until his latest album The Sleaping Eazys? Originally titled A New Day Yesterday, the album was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd and had him in a trio format with drummer Tony Cintron and bassist Creamo Liss. This time around, it’s been remixed by Kevin Shirley, includes a trio of songs produced by Stevie Van Zandt. The bonus tracks feature a 70s rocker “Hey Mona”, a mix of metal and punk on “I Want You” and a head banging thumper in “Line Of Denial”, all a ton of fun, but the Joe B signature is not quite there.
From the original album, Bonamassa sounds a bit Hendrixy on his own “Current Situation”, like a gunslinger on the opening Rory Gallegher tune “Cradle Rock” and giving hints of a muscular Paul Kossoff on the obscure Free tune “Walk In My Shadow”. Liss’ bass line is a funky one for the swampy “I Know Where I Belong” and the leader shows creativity in giving a slow and growling feel to Jethro Tull’s “A New Day Yesterday”. All throughout, Bonamassa’s voice is earthy and personal, working well on the country-ish “Miss You, Hate You” and the hip “Headaches to Heartbreaks”. Fellow six stringer Rick Derringer joins in for singing and picking on the fun rocker “Nuthin’ I Would Do (For A Woman Like You)”. What’s impressive about this album is that in retrospect it sounds like Joe B hit the ground running, and comparing it to his most recent album, he went in the right direction.