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Customer Reviews of Trouble Bound

Don't get me wrong, I'm as happy to see the Blasters back together as I would be if Carl Perkins crawled out of the ground and reached for a Stringbender. For all the crowing about Dave Alvin's maturation as a solo artist, the Blasters were his high-water mark for energy and just plain fun music. And there is plenty of energy here, but perhaps a bit too much bombast. A few of the tracks sound like Jimmy Thackery or some other uber-amplified bar-band drudgery. The Blasters worked because they could mix tasteful playing with driving, nine-pound hammer rock and roll.

Nevertheless, this is a welcome return. Good covers of Guitar Watson and Billy Boy Arnold, great version of "Long White Cadillac." ...

One of the Best Live Recordings Ever
I know I'm going to sound like an oldtimer in writing this review, but back when I was in high school in the early 1980's I had the pleasure of growing up in Southern California when music was so alive. Bands like X, Van Halen, Los Lobos, the Plimsouls and the Minutemen were playing small clubs and creating excitement about new music. Some of it was punk, some of it was hard rock, and then there were the Blasters.

Some folks said the Blasters played rockabilly. Some even thought they sounded Country. Then again, they were playing blues too. The bottom line is that they played the best American music you would ever want to hear, and they were absolutely the best live band around.

Alas, things don't last forever. The band, which features brothers Phil and Dave Alvin couldn't stay intact in their original form and that was a good thing. Dave went on to a great solo career and even won a Grammy and continues to be one of America's great songwriters.

Given the Blaster's heritage, the band re-released a compendium of all of their recorded music titled Testament. The two CD-set enabled the band to offer a more permanent public release of music that had long been out of print.

Last year, the band played five concerts in Southern California and this CD was recorded at one of the shows at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. The band also toured after the release of this CD as well.

I had the pleasure of attending two of those shows and feel honored to have had the opportunity to witness two of the greatest rock and roll shows I've ever seen. This CD is faithful to the quality and energy of those shows and is worth your investment.

Yes, the band members have aged a bit. Phil is a bit heavier and Gene Taylor has plenty of gray hair in that bushy beard. But they will give any band in the world a run for their money. This CD doesn't have a single track on it that won't make you want to sing along or dance. This is what American Rock and Roll is supposed to be.

ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS EVER!!!
Founded by brothers Phil and Dave Alvin, the Blasters tore up the early 80s L.A. punk scene with their electric, punked-out, blend of rockabilly, blues and country. Breaking up shortly after their John Mellencamp-produced "Hard Line" failed to garner the national attention it deserved, and the brothers began fighting all the time, it looked like the Blasters would be nothing more than a vinyl-only footnote to the later, Grammy-winning, career of Dave Alvin. Luckily, however, their catalog is being reissued and, even luckier, Phil and Dave have mended some fences. The result of that fence-mending was an intentionally brief live reunion last year that yields this scorcher of an album.

Joined by fellow Blasters John Bazz, Bill Bateman and Gene Taylor, the Alvin brothers tear through seventeen of their best songs, from originals like "Long White Cadillac" (later a hit for Dwight Yoakam) and Dark Night (featured in the film "From Dusk to Dawn") to blues classics like "Cryin for my Baby" and "One Bad Stud," all done with a fiery style that makes moving your body mandatory.

If there's a flaw to this album, it's that it's probably their last for another twenty years, given the brothers are back to their solo careers. But at least we have this one.