Ruthie Foster -
Joy Comes Back (2017)
The album is produced really well (you’d think that’s a given coming from 2017, but definitely not always the case) - there’s a very nice separation between all the instruments, the levels sound great, and the bass is always clear and consistently provides a meaty backbone to Ruthie Foster’s soulful professions.
The album opens with a great cover of Chris Stapleton’s first single, “What Are You Listening To?” - a somewhat recent contemporary country tune. I actually think I like this cover better than the original - Ruthie’s excellent vocals put it over the top.
Then comes “Working Woman”. The sound of it is your average blues-rock schlock and the lyrics are abrasively “Yas Queen!” in nature:
She's overtime and underpaid
She's kicking ass and taking names
She's punching that clock, she's climbing that ladder, she's spinning those wheels
She can do your job ten times better and do it in heels
I understand and agree with the general overall sentiment - women should be appreciated, and perhaps appreciated more than they currently are by most men - but this is a little too on the nose for me. Call your local plumber, electrician, or carpenter and see if they show up in heels. Maybe I’m just not the target audience. Oh well.
Title track “Joy Comes Back” is a rather understated piano-led blues chug. It doesn’t leave a big impression, but it’s enjoyable enough.
“Open Sky” is spacious and warm, really gives off that old school soul vibe - and is that vibraphone? That’s lovely…
I am generally not a fan of double vocal tracks, depending obviously on context - but the doubled up vocal tracks on “Good Sailor” add that extra spice that makes the song memorable and joyous. A celebration of overcoming adversity and the character that gives you. "Smooth seas never made a good sailor...". Great tune.
I’m not sure how to feel about the bluesy cover of “War Pigs”. Ruthie puts on a convincing vocal exhibition, but the song has been covered so many times by so many different bands that this cover really doesn’t add much new to it for me. Ruthie sounds closer to Chris Cornell than Ozzy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever”, a cover of a Nick Kamen tune, picks things back up nicely though - an enjoyable little love song with uhhh, is that bongos? Oh yeah, and I’m a sucker for choral choruses, so that’s a plus too in my book. The little piano solo is great too.
The cover of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Richland Woman Blues” brings us back to an earthy country-blues sound. Love that muted “oooooh yeah” as the guitar starts to twang in isolation a bit over halfway through the song. This cover adds a lot more to the original than the “War Pigs” one I think, but perhaps that’s just because I haven’t heard as many covers of this. Here’s the original for anyone interested, a great song in its own right:
Cock-a-doodle-doo-doo
“Abraham” is a slow burner - decent track - but the intro makes me think of “Everybody Hurts”.
Heartfelt piano number “Forgiven” ends the album off nicely.
Overall, this was a nice enjoyable modern romp in blues, soul and country. It doesn't really do anything that interesting, but it's totally competent in its aim. I’ve never heard of Ruthie Foster before this, but she’s an impressively talented vocalist with a great backing band. I’m definitely going to check out more from her discography. Good pick Trolls.
7/10