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Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues

Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues is the second compilation album by American blues rock musician Walter Trout. Released on June 23, 2009, by Provogue Records, it features previously unreleased recordings from across Trout's solo career, including live tracks and radio recordings, as well as three new studio tracks. The album reached number 5 on the US Billboard Blues Albums chart and number 10 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart.

Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues
Compilation album by
Walter Trout
ReleasedJune 23, 2009 (2009-06-23)
Recorded1989–2009
Genre
Length77:54
LabelProvogue
Producer
  • Walter Trout
  • Eric Corne
Walter Trout chronology
The Outsider
(2008) 		Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues
(2009) 		Common Ground
(2010)

Background

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Trout released Unspoiled by Progress to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of his solo career, compiling recordings from various shows and radio sessions between 1989 and 2005.[2] In a review of the album for the website AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos reports that "This collection has Trout picking favorites from various live performances recorded over the years by the BBC and, as he puts it, were selected favoring performance over recording quality."[1] The album features the last recording with Trout's band of bassist Jimmy Trapp, who died in 2006.[1] Alongside recordings from throughout Trout's career, Unspoiled by Progress also features three new studio recordings by Trout and his band – bassist Rick Knapp, drummer Michael Leasure and keyboardist Sammy Avila – one of which ("They Call Us the Working Class") was released alongside a music video ahead of the album.[3] Unspoiled by Progress was issued by Provogue Records in Europe on June 23, 2009,[1] and in North America on July 21, 2009.[3]

Reception

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Commercial

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Unspoiled by Progress was Trout's third album to reach the top five of the US Billboard Blues Albums chart, peaking at number 5.[4] In the UK, the album reached number 10 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart, number 46 on the UK Independent Albums Chart, and number 15 on the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart.[5]

Critical

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]

Media response to Unspoiled by Progress was positive. Michael G. Nastos of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that "While there's nothing groundbreaking here, or out of character with Trout's reputation and estimable talent, it's a solid collection of songs featuring the worked-up guitar of the leader that should appeal to the guitar hero nation without reservation."[1] Alan Jones of Get Ready to Rock! described the album as "truly great", awarding it a full five-star rating and noting that "With all of Walter's releases you always worry that he's going to change and get all modern on our asses, but as the title says – he's unspoiled by progress, and we hope that continues for a very long time."[6] Other positive reviews came from Guitar magazine, which proclaimed that "His guitar shines through on both the studio and live recordings. The grooves are all top-notch"; and Classic Rock magazine, which stated that "20 years later and he is playing with a vigour and stamina that outstrips young pretenders less than half his age. This is a winning testament to a seasoned but still emotively charged performer".[7]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Walter Trout, except where noted

Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."They Call Us the Working Class" 4:34
2."Goin' Down"Don Nix6:16
3."Life in the Jungle" 6:39
4."Long Tall Sally"
5:39
5."Jimmy as Yoko"Jimmy Trapp0:20
6."Somebody's Acting Like a Child"John Mayall7:49
7."Hey Barney" 0:19
8."Sweet as a Flower"
  • Trout
  • Trapp
8:13
9."Two Sides to Every Story" 4:34
10."Finally Gotten Over You" 11:38
11."Goin' Back Home"Finis Tasby3:32
12."Marie's Mood" 6:02
13."She's Out There Somewhere"Buddy Guy5:17
14."So Afraid of the Darkness" 6:56
Total length:77:54

Notes

Personnel

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Musicians

  • Walter Trout – vocals, guitar, production
  • Jimmy Trapp – bass (all except tracks 1, 9 and 14)
  • Rick Knapp – bass (tracks 1, 9 and 14)
  • Michael Leasure – drums (tracks 1, 9 and 14)
  • Frank Cotinola – drums (tracks 2–4 and 13)
  • Richie Hayward – drums (tracks 5–7)
  • Joey Pafumi – drums (track 8)
  • Bernard Pershey – drums (tracks 10 and 11)
  • Charles "Rick" Elliott – drums (track 12)
  • Sammy Avila – organ (tracks 1, 8, 9 and 14)
  • Danny "Mongo" Abrams – organ (tracks 2–7, 10–11 and 13)
  • Martin Gerschwitz – keyboards (track 12)

Additional personnel

  • Eric Corne – production, engineering, mixing (tracks 1, 9 and 14)
  • George Lyons – engineering (tracks 5–8)
  • Mark Chalecki – mastering
  • Misha Van Tol – artwork

Charts

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Chart performance for Unspoiled by Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues
Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[5] 46
UK Independent Album Breakers (OCC)[5] 15
UK Jazz & Blues Albums (OCC)[5] 10
US Blues Albums (Billboard)[4] 5

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Nastos, Michael G. "Unspoiled by Progress – Walter Trout". AllMusic. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  2. ^ Cohen, Peter (2009). "Walter Trout – Unspoiled By Progress". STLBlues. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Walter Trout News". Fishnet Productions. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Blues Albums". Billboard charts. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Walter Trout songs and albums". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  6. ^ Jones, Alan. "Walter Trout: Unspoiled By Progress Review". Get Ready to Rock!. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  7. ^ "Walter Trout News". Fishnet Productions. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
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