Top Shelf Woman Album Review

Blue Blood’s debut album Top Shelf Woman exudes good times from start to finish. Best described as a rock solid funkadelic escapade into jazzaliscious dynamics, with some stonking blues soul to get your heart pumping, it’s really something you should pick up today. I particularly like the tasty brass segments, sweet riffs and exceptional drumming that are designed to get you on the dance floor. The parts I don’t like so much are the somewhat formulaic rock and lyrics that haven’t moved fully into their potential yet. Having said that, Blue Blood certainly does the sex, drugs and rock n roll theme well and the angle of approach is original enough to make the release touch the ground in a most appreciated way.

This CD is all about partying. It’s not just crisp rock and roll with the tightest chops you could ever want; there’s an energetic funk factor and at times a slight glam or grunge aspect, which gives the album some healthy contrast. The mixture sure tastes good and it’s hard to believe this is their debut album. The professionalism, cohesiveness and talented song writing are far beyond what a lot of bands achieve with their third or fourth releases.

The high-energy vibe of opening track Red Light Woman draws on funk rock fusion to really get the party started. Then the particularly delightful self-tilted track Top Shelf Woman is a montage of styles somewhat comparable to Supergroove. The fourth track Magic Mary is a diverse dirty blues-rock song with some really hot drum accents and an excellent organ solo. Some other standouts are; Rock n Roll Romance with its ZZ Top influence, Liquored with its Red Hot Chilli Peppers dynamic, Lady Voodoo with an obvious nod to the guitar master Jimi Hendrix and It Was Never Love Pt 1 with some great key changes and excellent guitar work. With a Pink Floyd like resonance, the Outro track is an absolute stunner of infinite depth and space. Judging by this gem, I can’t wait for Blue Bloods future releases.

Top Shelf Woman is a fantastic feather in the cap of engineer Chris Winchecomb and the commercial potential shouldn’t be underestimated. Despite a slight hiccup with the track listing, the first-rate packaging, effective themes and polished performances make this well produced CD absolutely worth the entrance fee. If you’re ready to party, Top Shelf Woman is definitely for you.