John Butler Trio - April Uprising Year 2010 Tracks 1. Revolution 5:04 2. One Way Road 3:04 3. C'mon Now 2:40 4. I'd Do Anything 3:19 5. Ragged Mile 3:56 6. Johnny's Gone 4:54 7. Close To You 3:50 8. Don't Wanna See Your Face 2:42 9. Take Me 5:00 10. Fool For You 5:07 11. To Look Like You 4:19 12. Steal It 3:41 13. Mystery Man 3:53 14. Gonna Be A Long Time 3:44 15. A Star Is Born 4:35 As someone who wasn't happy when John Butler announced he was changing up his band, April Uprising completely blew me away. The album may possibly be one of John Butler's most diverse albums to date. While there's a lot of criticism floating around that he's "sold out to the man", the album is more an exploration of himself than an attempt at becoming commercial. He hasn't hidden the fact that the last two years or so were a time for upheaval for him and re discovery (or possibly, just discovery), and this album is a travel log of that journey. The new line up is absolutely fantastic and its obvious that all three of them bring different elements to the creative soup. They've allowed John to really experiment with some different sounds the album ranges from his more traditional sound (Revolution, Gonna Be A Long Time, Ragged Mile), to pop rock (One Way Road), to dance (Close to You) and even a dabble at punk (C'mon Now). And you can really tell they're having a complete ball playing around with music. At first listen, yes, the album comes off as a complete 180 from the previous records but I'm not someone who compares or judges new albums to old ones. Part of being an artist is breaking boundaries, dabbling with new sounds and colours, taking the unknown path - and that is exactly what he does here. You also get to hear how John has really grown as an artist: the sound is much tighter, the lyrics are more condensed without losing their meaning. He's still singing out his message of social consciousness but he's no longer wandering through rambling sentences. The inspiration, the originality and the cause are all still there. Even songs like Close to You are an example of this I don't know why we've never been told/That the life we're living it is made of gold/Spend our whole damn lives trying to make IT; IT's sold/Boy, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry now" All in all, its a great album. The band is currently touring and having seen JBT concerts with the previous lineup and the current one, their live performances have only gotten better. Nicky Bomba absolutely electrifies the crowd and Byron Luiters enchants them with bass riffs and shy smiles. Byron has also added the sounds of a didgeridoo to Treat Yo Mama and in one word: WOW!
mikmax4