Any music fan who has chosen to follow The Midland Magician and his career will have been rewarded with a wealth of creative musical adventures. No matter who Hughes works with, they play their best and sing their best. Why? Because Glenn has power and invention at his beck and call and such talents are inspirational. His compositions have drive aplenty but a level of chordal sophistication and harmonic colours you just don’t hear much elsewhere in rock.

Hence it’s a little hard for any single Glenn Hughes album to do justice to his range. Which after all, runs from the edgy rock of Deep Purple days to his soul/funk workouts to his rock-blues-royalty escapades with Black Country Communion. Hughes reckons that that this is ‘the first kind of a complete Glenn Hughes album’ and it’s worth taking notice.

On this latest collection the songs are once again the star and that blues-soul soaked voice reigns, only Jack Bruce got anywhere close to the airy and driven sound of the Hughes pipes in overdrive. We find guitarist Soren Anderson and drummer Pontus Engborg in the engine room, with Lachy Doley on keys and a couple of appearances from RHCP skinsman Chad Smith. Majestic opener Heavy is truly that ; My Town hits hard and maintains its linear punch . Flow is a grinding eerie and trance-like medium-pacer. Steady does evoke Deep Purple, Coverdale-era whilst How Long is a throbbing firestorm of a cut, with the best vocal here. When I Fall is to me the jewel here, a deep and insistent song with a haunting chorus.

Landmines has a choppy drive and is infernally catchy. Stumble & Go is a number that could have kicked off a heyday Groundhogs album but for the different vocal timbre, a guitar solo uses winding slide figures to great effect. To come back from a year of problems and surgery on this form confirms our faith in this man’s resolution, summed up on the acoustic-led Long Time Gone which seals the set.

Tough music just doesn’t come any richer or exciting than the works of this interesting character – incidentally a man who is gracious to his fans and indeed to this site. Resonance rampant!

Pete Sargeant