New Album Releases 08/26/08: The Game, B.B. King, Matthew Sweet, Slipknot, Mott The Hoople, Blues Traveler, Moody Blues, Motörhead, The Verve, Richard Bona & More

You can always tell when it's getting closer to the end of summer. The days get shorter, the air gets a little cooler (here in Seattle we dropped from 95 degrees to 70 in just a few days last week), and NFL exhibition football is back on the tube. You also usually start to see the new music dwindle down to a trickle.

Not so this week.

While there may be not be anything here that screams platinum-seller, this week's list is actually one of the more interesting we've seen all summer. There's a little bit of blues, some metal, and a couple of interesting throwbacks amongst the choices you'll find new at the record store.

B.B. King's One Kind Favor could prove to be the most interesting of the lot. Here producer T-Bone Burnett, fresh off a home-run with John Mellencamp's latest, puts King up front and center behind a band that includes veterans Dr. John on keys, Jim Keltner on drums, and Nathan East on bass, for a good old-fashioned blues workout. Early reports are calling this King's best since the days of albums like Singin' The Blues.

Blues fans can also look forward to North Hollywood Shootout, the new one from Blues Traveler. Matthew Sweet returns to his more guitar driven nineties power-pop sound on Sunshine Lies. For metal fans, there are new releases by both Slipknot and the ever-grizzled Lemmy and Motörhead.

There are also a couple of releases of note to classic rock fans. Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 captures The Moody Blues at their commercial peak before half a million fans in a previously unreleased live performance. Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology is the first complete anthology to cover Hunter from the earliest days of Mott The Hoople, through their seventies heyday as glam-rock darlings, and then take Hunter's subsequent solo career right on up to the present day.

The Verve are also back for their first record in more than a decade with Forth. Jordan Richardson really seemed to like this one, and you can check out his review for yourself by going here.

Speaking of Mr. Richardson, he joins our regular revolving NAR cast of contributors this week to talk about the new one by The Game. Just don't make fun of the nickname he chose, okay? First off though, here's Mark Saleski to talk about some guy that plays with Pat Metheny. Or something...

In the Pat Metheny Group, there is always one musician who plays the role "utility man." The basic instrumentation is guitar, piano/keys, acoustic and electric bass, drums, trumpet, and (sometimes) harmonica. The extra player is responsible for filling in on any number of instruments including vibes, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals, and percussion. In the history of the group, this chair has been held by a stellar cast of musicians including: Armando Marcal, Nana Vasconcelos, Mark Ledford, and the great David Blamires.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. Glen is also the author of Neil Young FAQ, scheduled for a spring 2012 release by Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard …

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