Review: Walter Trout – Ride

Provogue (August 19th, 2022)

Reviewer: Colm Banville

Here we have Mr Trout’s thirtieth album – yes, his thirtieth. For openers, there is a blistering track called ‘Ghosts‘. Well named: listen to how we holds the ghostly, fading note at the end.

Next comes the title song, ‘Ride‘, with a very Allman Brothers sound to it. There is some fantastic guitar twiddling that makes for serious air solos to glide right on through. This one, for this listener, is the highlight song of the collection.

The rest of the album is strong, with an especiallly solid group of backing musicians. One or two songs, ‘So Many Goodbyes‘, for instance, are not at full power, but certainly worth listening to.

‘I Worry too Much‘ is a belter track, close  in sound to Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’.

Listen out too for ‘Leave It All Behind‘ and ‘Hey Mama‘, which are nothing but good, along with the album’s slow closer number, ‘Destiny‘.

This has to be the finest of Walter Trout’s many albums, and is the one to get in 2022.