Review: Andreas Diehlmann Band – That Old Blues Again
Andreas Diehlmann Band – That Old Blues Again
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: M2 Music
Release: 2024
Text: Tom Wouters
Andreas Diehlmann is the Master of the Power Blues and has a surprisingly high album output. ‘That Old Blues Again’ is the umpteenth album that the German guitarist, vocalist and on this record also occasionally organist, releases with heavy, heavy blues rock.
The sound of Diehlmann and his band, with the solid rock rhythm section of Jörg Sebald on bass and Tom Bonn on drums, can actually only be compared to that of Danny Bryant in terms of power. Where Bryant is a bit more emotional, Diehlmann is even heavier. He could be Bryant’s heavy brother.
‘That Old Blues Again’ starts surprisingly with an atmospheric intro that takes us right into a deserted landscape in the Mid-West with a whooshing wind and a speeding train, after which the lonely guitarist plays a wailing slide solo on his old National guitar. This is Old Blues Country.
But then Diehlmann and his mates burst into the hard power blues of Whiskey And Women and we immediately know where we stand. This man is playing the blues bad to the bone! Then follows the funk rock of Gypsy Woman, which sounds like Kravitz meets Hendrix with great guitar playing by Diehlmann and a thundering rhythm section.
After that we can shortly catch our breath with the slow blues That Old Blues Again, but Diehlmann’s guitar solo immediately takes your breath away again.
The album is certainly varied with the southern blues rock of Make Up Your Way and Come Undone, in which the band sounds like a heavy version of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Billy Boy Arnold’s I Wish You Would is known from (grandpa tells) Bo Diddley, but perhaps even more from Hot Tuna, which recorded the song in both acoustic and rock versions.
The highlight of the album is the classic rock ballad Pictures Of You, in which Diehlmann displays the entire spectrum of his guitar playing. And then there are the straight ahead blues stompers Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night, which conjures up visions of ZZ Top video clips, and the closing Shotgun Wedding Blues, which sounds exactly like the title suggests and leaves the reviewer of the album breathless and far out in his rockin’ chair.
‘That Old Blues Again’ is heavy blues rock of the highest order and as exciting as you can get.
Tracks:
01. Whiskey (Intro)
02. Whiskey And Women
03. Gypsy Woman
04. That Old Blues Again
05. Make Up Your Way
06. Rock‘n‘Roll All Night
07. I Wish You Would
08. Pictures Of You
09. Come Undone
10. Shotgun Wedding Blues
Website: https://en.andreasdiehlmann.de/