RATINGS: A = must own B = buy it C= average D = yawn F = puke

Beth Hart - Bang Bang Boom Boom
Provogue Records
www.bethhart.com
 
Rating; A
 
Beth Hart may be best known for her work with Joe Bonamassa, but this lady has had an amazing career well before she teamed up with the guitarist extraordinaire. Over the course of her career, Beth has lived with both triumph and tragedy many times...and often fallen due to her own vices, yet here she is in 2013 still singing her lovely little ass off. Thank God for that...seriously...we should thank Him for allowing her to survive herself.
 
She is a special lady...for starters, Beth has a voice that can't be made...you have to be born with what she's got. Sure, she has worked hard to develop it and she works hard to maintain it and to even make it stronger, but what she started with is truly not of this earth. Her vocals are smoky, sexy, sultry, loud, strong, unique and powerful. Yet, she can also purr like a kitten when she wants too.
 
Her vocal chords are somehow connected to her emotions and whatever she sings about she sings with passion. When she voices her anger, you feel it, the same way you feel her love, angst, doubt, confusion and sense of humor in her songs. Whatever she wants you to feel...you feel it.
 
While there is not a weak moment on the album, there is also no clear genre either, which usually makes a mess of things for an artist but Beth ain't your average Josephine. No, instead her mind, body and soul leap around higgledy-pigeldy while her emotions and voice follow their lead, making this an album of Rock, Blues, Big Band and Jazz all mixed into a Beth Hart soup that tastes dandier with every spoonful.
 
"Bang Bang Boom Boom" is a rock song that mixes in Big Band, while "Spirit of God" is so freaking deep it will have you pondering your very existence. "The Ugliest House on the Block" is funny and pathetic and really awesome all at the same time. Every song has its own personality making this an intriguing and interesting listening experience, time and time again.
 
Beth Hart is the real deal. She is, in two words, simply amazing. Get to know her music and you may just get to know yourself better.
 
This is one damn fine slab of music from one amazingly talented woman.
 
By Jeb Wright