Glenn Hughes | Resonate – CD Review

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In 2009, Glenn Hughes told me his then-latest record FUNK was “more of a Glenn album than ever before…a very complete Glenn Hughes record; a very complete tapestry of where I’m at, where I’ve been, and where I’m going.” That same sentiment could just as easily apply to his 2016 solo outing, Resonate, which the singer and bassist says, “is the first kind of a complete Glenn album.”

Considering what Hughes has achieved in the last few years — collaborating with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, making three albums with Black Country Communion, one with California Breed, touring with those two bands and on his own, and getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Deep Purple — it’s a given that Resonate represents where he’s at, where’s he’s been, and where he’s going. More importantly, it highlights what he’s capable of doing — playing bass, writing songs and unfurling those unmistakable pipes.

Be it hard rock (“Heavy,” “Flow,” “God Of Money”), melodic rock (“Let It Shine,” “How Long”), or crushingly ethereal rock (“Steady,” “When I Fall”), Hughes harnesses and commands his strengths to the nth degree on Resonate. Then he goes and reaches beyond the expected with label-defying tracks like “Landmines” and “Stumble And Go.” Even with shades of Sabbath here and there, and thanks to Lachy Doley’s keyboards, hefty portions of Deep Purpleness spread throughout, Resonate is a diversified and colorful collection of songs that define who and what Glenn Hughes is.

~ Shawn Perry