Artist: Hughes, Glenn
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 4/5
It’s incredible how much this great musician has given us over his career, starting with Trapeze (for quick orientation: that’s where former Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland and guitarist Mel Galley also played, who crossed paths with Hughes again in the eighties on the Phenomena project), then the Deep Purple era with the mighty “Burn” and “Stormbringer”, the collaborations with Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi, not to mention the fascinating solo creations this one-of-a-kind master of soul has put out, like “From Now On…” or “Burning Japan Live!”. Every solo record of his is really something special. A man with vocal chops like that simply can’t disappoint, no matter what genre he takes on. Evidently the hangout with two members of Red Hot Chilli Peppers has created a lasting, cohesive pact that won’t fall apart just like that. Especially when it comes to drummer Chad Smith, who together with Glenn’s bass playing delivers one of the strongest rhythm lines Glenn Hughes has ever had in his solo career. J.J. Marsh has practically become Hughes’ indispensable permanent partner, and this time too Glenn trusted him with most of the guitar work on the new record.
“Music For The Divine” is a new, different album from Glenn Hughes. It’s the “bright” twin of “Soul Mover” (2005), and it’s unbelievable how Hughes can serve up such a freshly inspired studio album after a gap of just a year and a half, when with the name Glenn Hughes you always figure there’s practically no musical “trick” this legendary musician hasn’t already used to truly surprise the music masses. And yet that’s not true.
“Soul Mover” was an explosive “soul funk hard rock” album with a big dose of raw, rowdy energy. “Music For The Divine” is its bright partner. Superficially speaking, its mirror image. Here Hughes added acoustic and orchestral arrangements (strings) to an extent he’d never had in his solo career before. The opener The Valiant Denial alone is a track that sticks in your ear right away thanks to its polished big motifs, and it surprises with that arrangement choice, which isn’t typical for Hughes’ solo work. So: acoustics and orchestral arrangements. That’s why this song has a touch of the epic, which jumps out at you immediately, since from Hughes we usually expect devilishly dark “funk soul” or “blues hard rock”. The opening song is an excellent blend of everything, and Hughes in it is the good old Hughes, giving his 110% and simply taking your breath away with his heartfelt approach. A striking contrast of sonic depth comes from the energetic drums with Chad Smith’s metallic, lively sound, giving the track that always-relevant “funky” breeze. If the song had been written back in the early nineties, the production would have pushed the “heavy” guitars to the front, and we’d have gotten a lovely approximation of what Hughes was doing with, say, “From Now On…”. In other words, melodic, punchy hard rock. But this time everything is so nicely balanced in the production that Hughes wins over a wider audience, while also signaling that “feel” now dominates over the rowdy outbursts of youthful ego and its need to prove itself. This current, highly mature state of mind of Glenn Hughes is confirmed at the end of the album by a song whose title says it all. That’s This Is How I Feel, distinguished by outstanding melodicism, with violins and acoustics absolutely leading the way, and with firm, metallic, grinding rhythm lines leaving an exceptional contrasting stamp on them. As for pushing the sophistication of the former “Soul Mover” sound furthest, Hughes goes there in This House, where the absolute dominance of orchestration and acoustics is most pronounced on the new record, and where the classic approach of forging big melodies gains a clear edge on “Music For The Divine” over all the other approaches.
The songs Monkey Man, You Got Soul and Steppin’ On are great funk rockers that will make happy those of you who love to lose it to grabby rhythms like these. Too High, for instance, is a “lost” song from the “Soul Mover” record. One of the peaks of the singer’s emotional commitment is definitely the song Black Light, which Hughes dedicated to his friend Lana Clarkson, who died tragically a few years ago. The lyrics are tailored to match, full of anger and the pain of mourning, and the album takes on some darkness here. Hughes alone conjures up unique, inimitable, highly vibrant atmospheres. Really, his voice is all he needs for that. In short, the singer’s constant still shines in full intensity. Hughes changes like a chameleon. In Frail he becomes incredibly deep-feeling and sophisticated, and later in that song it’s precisely the sudden eruptive explosions he coaxes out of his vocals at the end of the track that really bewitch and shake the listener! The fragile acoustic half-ballad Frail is, also given its melodic arrangement, one of the absolute winners of this album. Hughes didn’t forget about a cover either. This time, by his own account, it came up very spontaneously: during “free time” in the studio, the band started playing through the legendary classic by The Moody Blues, Nights In White Satin. The arrangement? Smith and Hughes. Drums and vocals at the start. The contrast is loaded with incredible energy! It’s further upgraded by Frusciante’s thinly distorted guitar taking over the motif that the strings play in the original. It’s another seriously strong point of the album, even though it’s a cover. It simply proves that Hughes has found collaborators who found a great common wavelength when it comes to creating. Nights In White Satin is actually written in the original in such a way that it’s a safe bet Hughes drew most of his inspiration for making “Music For The Divine” from precisely that song. Was Nights In White Satin Hughes’ “muse”?
Hughes tears it up throughout the album with a unique feel for vocal improvisation. The one and only “the voice of rock” has found a new step up in his evolution. Compared to “Soul Mover”, “Music For The Divine” radiates extraordinary calm and a sophisticated approach, adorned by the pronounced use of acoustic sound and string orchestral arrangements, which give the album a remarkably sensual depth. “Music For The Divine” is Hughes in the best sense of the word. It’s a continuation of the path and in fact a retrospective of everything Hughes has been over the years, while at the same time opening a new creative chapter. So it’s already possible to eagerly watch where Glenn will turn in the future. To put it concisely: the new record offers a mix of that always-relevant funk sound, which will especially please “fans from the younger generations”, and the melodicism brought by the album’s sophisticated side through acoustic and orchestral passages, which will interest the older crowd of listeners in particular. “Music For The Divine” is already one of the peaks of Hughes’ solo career, and with it Glenn proves he’s an artist who simply can’t and won’t fake it. Another flawless ten!
Lineup
Glenn Hughes – vocals, bass guitar, funk electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Mark Kilian – string arrangements, keyboards
J.J. Marsh – guitar
John Frusciante – guitar
Chad Smith: drums, percussion
Production
Glenn Hughes & Chad Smith
Track list
1. The Valiant Denial
2. Steppin’ On
3. Monkey Man
4. This House
5. You Got Soul
6. Frail
7. Black Light
8. Nights In White Satin
9. Too High
10. This Is How I Feel
11. The Divine
Album length: 52:18
