Label: J&R Adventures
Release date: 7/18/2025
Production: Kevin Shirley
Genre: Blues Rock / Hard Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
Joe Bonamassa is back with a new solo studio album after four years. That’s actually the longest gap the (currently) world’s chief attaché and curator of blues rock has allowed himself in a career that’s been pretty damn impressive, with 17 studio albums to date. The new one included. Since “Blues Deluxe Vol. 2” (2023, RockLine review) is a collection of covers, “Time Clocks” (2021, RockLine review) is really the true predecessor to “Breakthrough”.
On his latest, Bonamassa keeps up the remarkably high-quality consistency he’s spoiled us with on past releases. His mix of blues elements, flirting heavily with hard rock excursions and even pop musicality, gives the new album its own identity and character, the kind Bonamassa has thoroughly accustomed us to. It’s all his. Even if it doesn’t say much that’s new, this one is tailor-made for his fans. And there are tons of them all over the world! Bonamassa has grown into a big name.
Joe isn’t letting up! The new album once again delivers an incredibly dense sound that reflects the unfeigned depth of organic playing, while the tracks are masterfully arranged and detailed, so that you can’t add anything and can take away even less. Recorded live-in-the-studio style. Compared to the vibe of “Time Clocks”, the new record feels a touch more loose, let’s say unwound, more relaxed. A bit more direct in how it speaks to you! Less serious. There’s more playfulness here (Drive By The Exit Sign, Still Walking With Me), though when you get to a point like Broken Record, your blood runs cold. A slow-burning blues number that gives you goosebumps on its own. With a phenomenal solo in the outro, laid down by Joe Bonamassa. The guitar wails as the notes bend. The moment of the album, one that would pull Gary Moore out of his premature grave. A moment that speaks for itself. In fact, this track alone is the peak of the album! Then there’s the dark, melancholic Life After Dark. For everyone who’s into songs that unfold in a minor key, this is your definitive album moment! A confession of personal redemption that grips the most hidden corners of the listener’s soul and, with confessional sincerity, literally melts even the stoniest heart! This is that something blues has to have to grab you and hold on. The thing that’s its essence, that drives its power and timelessness, even if the molds are clear. Joe’s handiwork is superb once again, and throughout this record the artist is always exactly where he needs to be.
The album opens with a real scowl. Pouting. The heft of the guitar phrase steps right to the front! That’s the title track. It picks up momentum when the whirlwind Trigger Finger follows it. But there are moments on the album that flip the atmosphere. They create dramatic turns. And that’s the foundation of the record’s wildly dynamic appeal. So there are moments that feel darker. In them, the emotions and passions of Joe’s inner world pour out more fully. These are moments that will give more demanding listeners even more confessional substance. As mentioned: the masterful slow blues Broken Record, which, in terms of its yield of melancholy and drama theater, is a real album treat, and likewise the already-mentioned Life After Dark, and then there’s one more brilliant atmospheric turning point, lifted especially by a top-notch chorus. That’s the song Shake This Ground.
And then there’s the thing you keep coming back to Bonamassa for, again and again. The guitar solos. Of course he’s grown into an excellent vocalist, and that no longer needs stressing. For the more discerning listeners, though, it’ll be interesting to learn that on “Breakthrough” Bonamassa once again used a whole series of different guitars, trying to expose the essence of each song’s expressive nature. The fatness of the Gibson LP naturally remains the backbone of the album’s dense sound, but Bonamassa is far from indifferent to the Fender Stratocaster, not to mention the many different amps and effects he uses. That’s also a special charm of this album, adding extra magic from track to track and underlining the uniqueness of the “Joe Bonamassa” recipe.
With “Breakthrough”, Bonamassa stays exactly where he wants to be. And where all of his followers, curious fans and insatiable devotees want to be too. The man fuses the rudimentary abrasiveness of blues’ magnificent legacy and translates it into a modern form, a unique blend that flirts, in a wonderfully complementary way, with both hard rock and pop moments, while the folk finesse is almost absent this time. Once again, that’s exactly what puts Joe Bonamassa in a special place within a genre he breathed relevance into a good while ago and put back in front of the masses. You could say it’s the very thing that has placed Bonamassa right at the head of the leading figures who, as heralds of a new generation, are keeping the blues in a renaissance. And the story goes on.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Breakthrough
2. Trigger Finger
3. I’ll Take The Blame
4. Drive By The Exit Sign
5. Broken Record
6. Shake This Ground
7. Still Walking With Me
8. Life After Dark
9. You Don’t Own Me
10. Pain’s On Me
Lineup:
Joe Bonamassa – vocals, guitar & slide guitar
Reese Wynans – keyboards
Josh Smith – guitar
Calvin Turner – bass on tracks 1 to 4 and 6 to 10
Stephen Mackay – bass on track 5
Lamar Carter – drums, percussion on tracks 1 to 4 and 6 to 10
Greg Morrow – drums on track 5
Jade MacRae – backing vocals
Dannielle DeAndrea – backing vocals
