Bo Walton - Waiting On A Dream (2012) [Re-Up]

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Bo Walton - Waiting On A Dream (2012) [Re-Up]

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This is an album of modern commercial, radio friendly, finely crafted rock n roll / country tunes. Do not expect wild sounding rockabilly or a pastiche of 50’s rock n roll.

Bo and his team have cleverly put together a collection that while it remains steeped in the roots of the rock n roll genre it gathers influence from all of the many and varied elements that make up the 50+ year history of this music. Then they add a dash of modern sounding country, sixties pop, etc stir and shake it all together and produce a sound that is highly listenable with songs that sound fresh and firmly of the now.

Kicking off with the strong Hangin’ On, an instantly catchy country rock tune the album then tears into I Like It Like That, a straight out rock n roll number with a catchy sing along car radio chorus and a great guitar sound.

Up tempo tunes sit comfortably next to well written and constructed ballads, the haunting Wicked Moon hangs in your head long after the album finishes.

The joyous ‘S Too Much was the first single release and is reviewed else where on this site but this is matched in style and pace by the equally good Down in a Blaze of Love.

More country influences can be felt on the second single Wild at Heart before the closing Waiting on a Dream takes a bluesy romp into the rock n roll realms of 50’s and 60’s Elvis.

There are tracks that are more rock n roll and those that veer toward country but what they all have in common is that they are well played, catchy and easy to listen to.

I could write about the different artists that this sounds like or is clearly influenced by, but ultimately it is Bo’s vocal strength and the song writing that carries this album, a great debut that promises much and should have wide appeal both with long time rock n roll and country fans and the casual listener that appreciates a new talent.

Review by Rockin Nev, RockabillyBash.com

The book of Ecclesiastes contains the, ironically, now cliched phrase, 'There is no new thing under the sun'. Often taken as a form of insult - a suggestion of mundanity, moribundity and repetitive circularity (the future as history) - this is in fact a phrase to be celebrated. Because, and I talk of popular music here, once we recognise, and cherish, that from certain areas of folk came blues and that from blues came the jittering, swaggering, perpetual adolescent that was and is rock and roll, and once we then accept that from that blueprint came…everything we now recognise as modern music (yes, even dubstep), we realise that the phrase, 'There is no new thing under the sun' is to be worn as a badge of honour. It is to be cherished. Because it stands as a proud tribute to the fact that all music IS rock n roll. Bo Walton realises this. And, furthermore, Bo Walton isn't afraid of the circularity to time. So he's taken us back to the future with his stunning debut album.

Bo's album infuses the classic rock n roll blueprint with shades of country. He mixes ballads with tunes designed to shake your soul. He sings sweetly and then, with the angry smack of a snare, he's spitting and rasping like the whole historic pride of his genre depends on his abilities. And what abilities. Bo Walton will break hearts. Bo Walton will break records. Bo Walton will temporarily madden you - `4/4, verse, chorus, middle eight, songs about love…why didn't I do that?'.

And the only salvation you will find is in the appreciation of the shimmering hope of his music and the recognition that you did not do it, for one reason. You are not Bo Walton. And you are not the new thing under the sun (records doorway). Thank God that Bo is.

Review by Son of Marr, Amazon.co.uk

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Bo Walton - Waiting On A Dream (2012) [Re-Up]

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Bo Walton - Waiting On A Dream (2012) [Re-Up]

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Bo Walton - Waiting On A Dream (2012) [Re-Up]

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