Electric Blues
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The Rob Tognoni Band
Live at the Twilight
Provogue 1999
Review Published Nov 20, 1999
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Track Listing
  1. Everlasting Lovin' Boy
  2. Dark Angel
  3. Crossword Blues
  4. Jim Beam Blues
  5. Sunburn
  6. Keep Your Head Above Water
  7. Lil' Melody
  8. Peregian
  9. Roosevelt & Ira Lee
  10. I Like to Dress Like Batman
  11. Don't Be Too Hard On Me
  12. The Sinner
  13. Itty Bitty Mama
  14. Bad Girl
  15. Black Is White
  16. My Acid Is Kickin' In
EB Rating - 4.5

 		    The Rob Tognoni Band is a high energy band based in Australia. While the band bills itself as a blues-rock band, the flavor is more of a classic rock style with a tinge of blues. The band's leader cites Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and fellow countrymen AC/DC as some of his main influences. Of these, I hear the AC/DC influence the strongest. Occasionally thoughout the CD, I hear strong blues-rock style lead riffs, as well as song rhythms that remind me of AC/DC, a band I always felt was mis-categorized as a heavy metal band.
    Tognoni's guitar is powerful, crisp and animated. Some really nice Wah-Wah is featured ocasionally. I've always been partial to the wah-wah effect, and enjoy Tognoni's use of this device. Although there aren't any extraordinary qualities to Tognoni's vocals, he does sing quite well and his vocal style suites his music. An artist with songwriting talent as well, Tognoni wrote twelve of the sixteen songs on the CD.
    There is only one full blown blues tune on the CD, Crossword Blues, which was written by yet another strong Australian blues guitarist, Dave Hole. This is a powerful, straight-up hard blues song and shows without a doubt that Tognoni has blues in his soul. There are three or four others tunes that fall into the blues-rock category. My favorites from the CD, along with Crossword Blues, are I Like To Dress Like Batman and The Sinner. Both are blues-rock songs and feature wah-wah driven guitar.
    The balance of the CD has a distinct "Classic Rock" feel to it, but throughout the CD Tognoni's guitar leads keep the blues in mind. Definitely not for the blues purist, this CD is more suited to those who relate to the connection between blues and early rock, and enjoy a good dose of quality guitar playing.

Visitor Comments

    Being a bit more advanced in years than some of the EB regulars, I have witnessed nearly the entire evolution of electric blues music. I am also a fan of the guitar driven "classic rock" music of the 70's. Most of my guitar heros have either lost their passion for playing or have died from unnatural causes. In these present days, rarely does a player come along who captures my ear as did some of the founding fathers. However, Rob Tognoni is such a player. His playing is both precise yet powerful. The band is talented and tight. The CD is on the Provogue label, and is therefore well engineered. In this recording, you can hear both the Ghost of Classic Rock Past along with the cutting edge of the future. Quite simply, Rob Tognoni is one of the best kept secrets of blues/rock music. With the release of "Live at the Twilight", he is going to become much better known soon.
Tom - 11/24/99
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