Tasty, tight, and pretty much terrific guitar playing is what we have come to expect from an elder statesman like Robin Tower, and this is what we get across the 11 songs on No More Worlds To Conquer. Indeed, with a career spanning over six decades, this particular master of the Strat really doesn’t have anything to prove, less conquer, but Trower’s playing as well as his songwriting here show a spectacular and, indeed, a conquering form.
From the snapping opener “Ball Of Fire,” the wah-wah groove and rimshot snap of “Deadly Kiss,” and the slow expert blues of “Birdsong,” Trower and his cadre of players — Chris Taggart on drums, Richard Watts on vocals, with Livingstone Brown pumping the low-end strings on three tunes and Trower covering the rest — deliver like a crack-jack seasoned electric blues outfit.
This is one of those albums where each song just grabs you deeper into the mélange. Later on, a song like “Fire To Ashes,” with its deep organ bed and Watts singing his heart out, pretty much makes one think you are hearing a sure classic of this genre.
The chunky “The Razor’s Edge,” with its biting commentary lyric and the high snap of Taggart’s snare and Trower’s pull-offs and biting wailing, make this a true centerpiece of No More Worlds To Conquer. And the stunning slow devotional, with Trower at his cleanest and maybe his most expressive of all, “I will always be your shelter,” ends. At 76 and at the top of his playing and composing, Trower may not have any new worlds to conquer, but his touch of the blues continues to win over music fans far and wide.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
