Different Shades of Blue

Joe Bonamassa is a guitar player’s guitar player. Yet, for every guitarist who sits down to figure how Bonamassa gets his tone, there’s a non-musician listener who just likes the music. Bonamassa balances the needs of both by making sure the songs are there. For his first studio album in two years, he cowrote the songs with veteran Nashville songwriters and went into a Las Vegas studio with longtime producer Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith) and a solid band. “Love Ain’t a Love Song” and “Never Give All Your Heart” nail R&B and blues-rock, respectively, with an ear toward tight hooks.