New Music Tuesday

Today was a good new music Tuesday for guitar-based music fans:

• Joe Bonamassa’s new album Driving Towards the Daylight was officially released. I’ve been listening to this album for a couple of weeks now, and I think it’s his strongest album of the last few years. It’s a somewhat more focused album than last year’s Dust Bowl, with a more straight-forward blues-rock approach.
• John Mayer released Born and Raised. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album, but I think it is brilliant. I’m mostly a fan of Mayer’s blues-focused music, and Born and Raised is a departure from that side of Mayer’s playing. This album is mostly acoustic with Mayer’s songwriting really taking the focus. There are some great songs as well as song great guitar playing.
• Sonny Landreth released his new album Elemental Journey. With guest spots by Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, you know this will be a popular release among guitar players. I’ve been a long-time fan of Landreth’s slide guitar work, and this release is full of Landreth’s intricate slide guitar playing.
• Slash released Apocalyptic Love. Unlike his self-titled 2010 release, this album features Miles Kennedy as the vocalist for each track. I have mixed feelings about Kennedy’s vocals, but Slash’s guitar playing is strong as always, and I think Kennedy does an adequate job for this type of music.