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Feb 27, 2019A good amount of the record adds up to a concept album about a successful musician trying to balance the demands and rewards of the road with home and family life. That’s not exactly unexplored territory on a rock (or blues or soul) record, but it does feel like Clark is honestly grappling with some internal issues here, in a variety of musical styles and subgenres that all go down easy.
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Feb 27, 2019This Land is a triumph for Clark and a quantum leap forward for the blues.
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Feb 20, 2019On This Land, his third major-label studio album, his songwriting has caught up with his playing. ... It has something to do with the power of contrariness: that is, Clark’s determination to deliver the raw, analog, spontaneous opposite of crisply quantized digital content. And it has a lot to do with America in 2019, where division, frustration and seething anger can use an outlet with the historical resonance and emotional depth of the blues.
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Feb 25, 2019It frequently upends expectations while confirming Clark's broad talent and imagination, and if this doesn't convince you he's a major artist, nothing will.
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Feb 22, 2019It’s an effective blend superior to earlier attempts at versatility, as on the Bright Lights EP and, during the aforementioned “What About Us,” comparable to the absorption of musical elements present on previous full-length studio albums like Blak And Blu.
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Q MagazineFeb 20, 2019The Texan singer and guitarist's fifth album feels like a one-man exploration of African-American music. .. The blues is in safe hands. [Apr 2019, p.110]
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MojoFeb 20, 2019On This Land, Clark and his guitar stay true to the mission. [Apr 2019, p.92]
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Classic Rock MagazineFeb 20, 2019As Clark wraps up with the formulaic 12-bar of Dirty Dishes Blues, you realise how much the rest of the album pushes the envelope and applaud him for it. [Mar 2019, p.88]
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Mar 4, 2019This Land is the first place where Gary Clark Jr. doesn’t appear hemmed in by the past. The album may be informed by old sounds and forms, yet these familiar tropes feel fresh thanks to Clark’s idiosyncratic splicing.
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Mar 22, 2019This Land runs as a philosophical course correction, as a truer start on his path forward.
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Mar 14, 2019This Land proves Clark knows his way around a soundbooth, too, not to mention the news cycle. He’s a restless artist in the best way, and if he keeps chasing those kinetic blues, there’s surely only more good to come.
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Feb 22, 2019At 17 tracks, This Land feels packed with too many ideas, only some of them landing. At its best, though, the album points to a new way forward for Clark. It’s a crucial stride for an artist who’s long been searching for direction.
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UncutFeb 20, 2019This fifth studio release is no less diverse, hitting hardest with the Woody Guthrie-alluding title track, a raging blast of rap-hop that addresses prejudice and intolerance in the Trump era. More frequently, though, Clark immerses himself in funk and soul. [Mar 2019, p.26]
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Feb 27, 2019This Land might not be a huge success. Some parts of the 16-song album are cheesy ("Feeling Like a Million"), too lyrically aggressive ("This Land"), or lacking innovation ("Low Down Rolling Stone"). However, few guitarists can consistently play notes this high, and do so with such quality. Clark Jr. can really rip a solo—that's his appeal to listeners—and a few more of those guitar extensions would have done This Land better.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 19 out of 25
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Mixed: 6 out of 25
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Negative: 0 out of 25
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Mar 1, 2019
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Mar 4, 2019Play it loud, no other suggestion is necessary....especially while driving !
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Feb 28, 2019