Welcome

Nothing on this album really reached out and grabbed me by the throat. That being said, I have no major complaints about any of the songs. There are obvious influences from The Beatles, Black Crowes, Hendrix and Robin Trower. The Soul Shaker track sounds like it could have been lifted from a Grand Funk album. The musicianship is top notch with numerous lengthy guitar solos. There is not much to criticize, but also nothing really memorable. I will say it does hold up well to repeated listening on road trips. All in all, a well crafted album & well worth a listen.

I first saw and heard Doyle Bramhall on the Crossroads 2013 performance on TV. Wow! "Cry" was awesome so I ordered the CD on Amazon and after 4 months, I'm still playing it all the time. It's gritty, spunky, different, and ground-breaking. After reading the Amazon review which dissed it, I wondered what he/she was listening to. Maybe the writer was so used to the plain, ordinary run-of-the-mill song structures of the past, that he/she didn't care to venture out and listen to something new and different. Bramhall makes great use of leading you into a song and then diverting you onto a different path that you've never been down to before. That's what makes this cd so hard to stop playing. Now, on the other hand, I've listened to his other cds and was quite disappointed. But, we've all been down that road before with artists.Joe

I first saw DBII on a Roger Waters In The Flesh Live DVD from like 2001 (I give this DVD 5 Stars even if you are not a huge Roger Waters fan. This band and DBII in this concert are awesome so get this DVD). And I know that DBII has worked with Eric Clapton, where Eric is one of my all-time favorites. So I was curious to hear this DBII album. The first song on the album Green Light Girl is a great song with some wonderful guitar pyrotechnics. No doubt DBII can play a stratocaster, he does have his own style with a underpinning of Texas blues, which is a good thing. He doesnt try to be, and he doesnt need to be, a Stevie Ray Vaughn impersonator. And I wasnt looking for a firey "guitar only album." It is a good album, I just cant rave about it...and I was hoping to. The album is DBII & Smokestack, where this band includes Susannah Melvoin, but you wouldn't really know it listening to this ablum. I think it would have helped the album overall to feature her vocals more prominently. But this is not a criticism of DBII's voice, which I like and can be distinctive. Lets face it, this cat radiates cool, and he can play with the best of them (ala Eric Clapton) but after listening to this album I just thought...well that was OK. I dont really have any strong criticisms of the album, but only a few cuts stood out in my mind and caught my attention.

"Welcome" sat on my wishlist for a long time. Bramhall blasts and milks the blues-flavored rock sound from his amazingly expressive guitar. The closing track "Cry" meanders by like a slow-running river with Bramhall's vocals oozing pain until his guitar bleeds emotion, "I need a place to rest my heart right now." "Last Night" is also a favorite as it chugs forcefully and then blasts out, "Love's the one thing stronger than desire & the only reason to walk from temptation." The opening track "Green Light Girl" is also classic with its electric drive, "All the boys want you, your glamour and despair; She smiles & rolls her eyes in a rock 'n roll uprise." Other tracks like "So You Want It to Rain," "Life" & "Smokestack" are also very strong. "Welcome" is an incredible rock blast well worth seeking! Enjoy!

I first heard of Doyle Bramhall on a documentary entitled Before the Music Dies. In this I heard Doyle playing the guitar so well that Jimi Hendrix would blush. I immediately hopped on over to Amazon and bought the first album I saw, Welcome, and I have to say I was not disappointed in the least. The album opens with the loose, heavy, and fast "Green Light Girl" and only gets better from there. Already I was hooked on this guy I had only seen a clip of. About 2:10 in, Doyle made me fall in love with a solo so intricate, yet so effortless that Jimmy Paige would have gladly ripped it; and just know Doyle does this again and again throughout the course of the album. He jumps from blues-infused rock, to jammy-like blues, to a "What is and What Should Never Be" type number, and back to good old blues. Doyle is carrying the torch of good music today. If you're looking for an album or an artist with lifeless lyrics, little to no musical ability, or just no talent, I do not think this is the album for you. If however you grew up on Muddy Waters, Zeppelin, Stones, and Hendrix, and you just can't seem to find a musician these days that encompasses the glory, power, majesty, and skill of good, original, classic rock/blues, buy this album. You won't regret it.

Best kept musical artist ever This guy is the most talented musician, IMHO

An awesome guitarist who has gone on to play with the likes of Eric Clapton and many others.

WHEN YOUR ASKED TO PLAY WITH CLAPTON AND WROTE SOME OF HIS SONGS, AND ASKED TO PLAY WITH ROGERWATERS AND TOUR THE WALL...............YOU HAVE SOME CREDO....THEN BACKTRACK TO ARC ANGELS...., THEN A UNIQUE SOLO CARRER................HE CAN PLAY ANY STYLE.............GREAT GUITAR, GREAT VOCALS..............TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT HIM................