It seems like everyone remembers where they were when a major
\nnews story breaks, such as the murder of John Kennedy or the car
\naccident that claimed Princess Diana’s life.<\/p>\n
For music lovers, a similar experience is knowing where they
\nwere when they heard that Stevie Ray Vaughan had been killed in a
\nhelicopter crash. I had just been awakened by my alarm in college –
\na day after a powerful tornado levelled an area just a few miles
\nfrom where the school was. The news station clicked on, and the
\nsketchy details seemed to hint that possibly Eric Clapton had been
\naboard. Hearing the news that it was Vaughan who had perished
\ndidn’t lessen the shock, though I was relieved that Clapton was
\nokay.<\/p>\n
The memory of his death is still vivid, almost nine years after
\nthe fact, and hearing his last studio effort with Double Trouble,
\nIn Step<\/i>, remains the best celebration of Vaughan’s life.
\nRecently given the TLC touch with rare tracks and interview
\nsegments, though, one has to wonder if the minds behind this
\notherwise great idea ruined a good thing.<\/p>\n
The first album recorded after Vaughan cleaned up from drug and
\nalcohol abuse, it’s musically tight and filled with life. From the
\nopening guitar shuffle of “The House Is Rockin'” to the light,
\njazzy riffs that envelop the listener on “Riviera Paradise,” this
\ncould well have been the defining moment of Vaughan’s career.<\/p>\n
\nIn Step<\/i> will probably forever be known for the track
\n“Crossfire,” a song which rightfully made the charts, and is still
\na song that sends shivers up my spine each time I hear it. While
\nVaughan’s talents on the guitar have always been evident, you can
\nhear him putting his Stratocaster through an intense workout that
\nwill undoubtedly leave you, the listener, sweating. It’s an
\nemotionally raw, exposed nerve – and it’s incredible.<\/p>\n
But the best track on
\nIn Step<\/i> may well be “Tightrope”, a song which alludes to the
\ndemons that Vaughan had faced in his life. Another barn-burner, you
\ncan hear the emotion in Vaughan’s voice as he bellows out the
\nchorus of this song.<\/p>\n
From the original ten tracks on
\nIn Step<\/i>, I have yet to find one track that I don’t enjoy
\nlistening to. Whether it’s the blues shuffle Vaughan was known for
\non “Wall Of Denial”, a jump-like blues on “Let Me Love You Baby”, a
\nmore traditional blues of “Leave My Girl Alone” or a
\nballs-to-the-wall instrumental like “Travis Walk,” simply put, this
\nalbum kicks ass.<\/p>\n
And then, there are the bonus tracks. While I welcomed the
\nopportunity to hear an interview segment featuring Vaughan, I would
\nhave preferred to hear something that related to the music on this
\nalbum instead of how music had been his one job for so long. The
\nremainder of the four new cuts are live tracks recorded in Denver
\nin 1989. They’re decent enough, but one wonders why these
\nparticular tracks – including “Texas Flood” – were chosen. (After
\nwatching the
\nLegends<\/i> bio of Vaughan, including “Life Without You” and its
\nanti-drug message makes perfect sense.)<\/p>\n
It’s almost like adding on tracks to a perfect album would be
\nlike making an adjustment to the “Mona Lisa” – don’t screw with
\nwhat is stellar already. (The only way I could have really
\njustified putting bonus material on this would have been if they
\nhad included the jam on “Sweet Home Chicago” from that show on
\nAugust 25, 1990. (I don’t claim that they have a good quality tape
\nof that in the vaults, but one can always dream.) Somehow, closing
\nthis album with the final song that Vaughan played would have been
\nappropriate.<\/p>\n
Still,
\nIn Step<\/i> is a great album in and of itself, and the live
\ntracks do add something to the experience – though one wonders if
\nit was absolutely necessary to do so. If you have never purchased
\nIn Step<\/i>, now you have no reason not to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5991],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38980","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-stevie-ray-vaughan-double-trouble","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38980"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}