Black Country Communion (album)

Black Country Communion
Studio album by Black Country Communion
Released	20 September 2010
Recorded	January–April 2010 at Shangri La Studios, Los Angeles
Genre	Hard rock, blues-rock
Length	72:35
Label	Mascot (UK) J & R Adventures (US)
Producer	Kevin Shirley
Black Country Communion chronology
Black Country Communion (2010) Black Country Communion 2 (2011)

Black Country Communion is the debut release by the English-American rock supergroup Black Country Communion.^[1] The album was released in Europe on 20 September 2010, and in the US one day later.^[2]

Overview

The band was originally conceived during a concert being held for Guitar Center in November 2009. Joe Bonamassa, who was performing, was asked by Guitar Center to invite several friends along, one of which was former Trapeze and Deep Purple singer/bassist Glenn Hughes. Hughes joined Bonamassa for several songs on stage, which was noticed by producer Kevin Shirley, who had worked with Bonamassa before, on several of his solo albums. Shirley approached Hughes and Bonamassa with the concept of making a studio album under a band moniker. Not long afterwards, drummer Jason Bonham was recruited into the band by Shirley. The concept of a power trio didn't satisfy Bonamassa however, so Derek Sherinian, formerly of Dream Theater and Billy Idol's backing band was asked to join. The band was dubbed "Black Country" by Hughes, but were forced to change their name after another band with the same name threatened legal action.^[3]

Bonham claims that the band were recording for the album as early as January 2010, stating "I just literally went into the studio last week for two days with one person I'd done an album with before, very quickly, and then the other was a friend of my father's I got to meet later on, Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes, and we're working on a new project with a working title of Black Country."^[4] Recording of the album was finished in early April, with the official track listing of the album being released on 10 June 2010^[5] and the album's cover artwork being publicly released on 8 July 2010. The album contains a cover of "Medusa", which was originally recorded by Hughes' band Trapeze in 1970; Hughes also lent Bonamassa the guitar used by the recently deceased Mel Galley on the original track. On 10 August 2010, the band released the single "One Last Soul" for free digital download from their official website.^[6]

Hughes has described the album as "a traditional classic rock record with a modern twist".

Track listing

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
BBC Music	(favourable)[8]
Classic Rock
Jukebox:Metal	[9]
Mojo	[10]
Sunday Mercury	(favourable)[11]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Black Country"	Glenn Hughes	Hughes, Joe Bonamassa	3:15
2.	"One Last Soul"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa	3:52
3.	"The Great Divide"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa	4:45
4.	"Down Again"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa, Derek Sherinian	5:46
5.	"Beggarman"	Hughes	Hughes	4:52
6.	"Song of Yesterday"	Hughes, Bonamassa, Kevin Shirley	Bonamassa, Shirley	8:33
7.	"No Time"	Hughes	Hughes	4:19
8.	"Medusa" (originally performed by Trapeze)	Hughes	Hughes	6:57
9.	"The Revolution in Me"	Bonamassa	Bonamassa, Sherinian	4:59
10.	"Stand (At the Burning Tree)"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa	7:02
11.	"Sista Jane"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa	6:55
12.	"Too Late for the Sun"	Hughes	Hughes, Bonamassa, Jason Bonham, Sherinian, Shirley	11:21
Total length:				72:35

Personnel

• Glenn Hughes – lead & backing vocals, bass
• Joe Bonamassa – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Song of Yesterday" and "The Revolution in Me", co-lead vocals on "Sista Jane" and "Too Late for the Sun"^[12]
• Jason Bonham – drums, percussion
• Derek Sherinian – keyboards

Additional personnel

• Kevin Shirley – production, mixing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Jeff Bova – orchestration
• Patrick D'Arcy – uilleann pipes, tin whistle

Chart performance

Chart (2010)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[13]	54
US Billboard Hard Rock Albums[14]	19
US Billboard Rock Albums[15]	18
Austrian Albums Chart[16]	50
Dutch Albums Chart[17]	32
French Albums Chart[18]	62
German Albums Chart[19]	15
Irish Albums Chart[20]	81
Swedish Albums Chart[21]	19
Swiss Albums Chart[22]	54
UK Albums Chart[23]	13
UK Rock Albums Chart[24]	1

References

1. "Black Country Communion album artwork revealed". bccommunion.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
2. "deep-purple.net news: Glenn Hughes". deep-purple.net. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
3. "Hughes,Bonamassa Supergroup Finally Have A Name". classicrockmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
4. "Jason Bonham's New Band Black Country Communion Recording Album". spinner.com. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
5. "Black Country Communion Confirm Album Details". classicrockmagazine.com. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
6. "BCC single available as free MP3 download". thehighwaystar.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
7. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Black Country Communion". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
8. Moffitt, Greg. "Black Country Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
9. Jukebox:Metal review
10. Elliott, Paul. "Mojo Magazine Review". Mojo Magazine. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
11. Cole, Paul. "BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION : Black Country". Sunday Mercury. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
12. "Black Country Communion". noblepr.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
13. "Billboard 200: Black Country Communion Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
14. "Hard Rock Albums: Black Country Communion Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
15. "Rock Albums: Black Country Communion Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
16. "Discographie Black Country Communion". austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
17. "Discografie Black Country Communion". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
18. "Discographie Black Country Communion". lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
19. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung". Black Country Communion Chartverfolgung (in German). musicline.de. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
20. "Discography Black Country Communion". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
21. "Discography Black Country Communion". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
22. "Discography Black Country Communion". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
23. "Albums". Black Country Communion. Official Chart Company. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
24. "2 October 2010". 2010 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive. Official Chart Company. Retrieved 30 December 2011.

External links

• Official website