I wasn\u2019t prepared for the reaction to Paul McCartney\u2019s recent appearance on Saturday Night Live<\/i>. While plenty of people praised the legendary singer-songwriter for still getting out there and performing at almost 84 years old, there was a notable undercurrent of negativity as well. The latter mostly came down to raw ageism: \u201cYou\u2019re old now, so sit down and be quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
No doubt McCartney\u2019s fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Peter Frampton\u2014a man who loves to laugh\u2014would appreciate the irony here, as in recent years he\u2019s been forced to sit down, but resolutely refused to be quiet. Adding to everything the author of the best-selling live album of all time<\/a> has been through since his Seventies heyday\u2014epic professional and personal ups and downs, followed by a substantial late-career creative renaissance\u2014in 2019 Frampton was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis<\/a>, an incurable condition that gradually weakens muscles.<\/p>\n When I saw Frampton live soon after his diagnosis, he played most of the show seated. To this faithful Frampton Comes Alive <\/i>listener, it made zero difference in his performance, and he\u2019s been busier than ever since. That same year he delivered All Blues<\/i> (an album of blues covers), followed by Frampton Forgets The Words<\/i> (a terrific 2021 set of instrumental covers) and now Carry The Light<\/i>, his 16th studio album and first set of rock originals since 2010.<\/p>\n The beautiful thing about having reached a certain age and station in life (Frampton recently turned 76) is that there\u2019s just no reason anymore not to do exactly what you want. As a result, Carry The Light <\/i>is liberally sprinkled with guests, focuses on vocal tracks while also including a pair of instrumentals, and features perhaps the most personal lyrics of Frampton\u2019s long career\u2014and it all works.<\/p>\n It works because Frampton sounds inspired here, rejuvenated by recent rounds of touring that were never guaranteed to happen, as well as the at-times frenetic pace of activity he has undertaken in an effort to make as much music as he can while his body still allows. Carry The Light<\/i> celebrates and embodies that determination in a beautiful way.<\/p>\n The opening title track is a revelation, incorporating native chanting and rhythms courtesy of members of the Shawnee Tribe, a pulsing, vibrant anthem to resilience and persistence: \u201cIf we all come together \/ We can change the darkest days.\u201d It\u2019s one of the most unique tracks in the British guitar god\u2019s entire catalogue, striking and ultimately triumphant.<\/p>\n Equally notable is \u201cBuried Treasure,\u201d about which I have a confession. I didn\u2019t read through the album credits and lyric sheet before my first listen and was well into the second verse of this track before it hit me: \u201cWait\u2026 the phrases he\u2019s singing\u2026 every single one is a Tom Petty song title\u2026!\u201d And then realized the guitars, by Frampton and Pat Burgeson, have that distinctive Tom Petty \/ Mike Campbell tone and bite, complemented nicely by bursts of Hammond organ\u2014played by, oh yeah, Mr. Benmont Tench.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a terrific tribute to a fellow rock\u2019n\u2019roll icon, mostly because it\u2019s heartfelt, an adjective that could be extended to this entire album. Certainly \u201cI\u2019m Sorry Elle\u201d wears its heart in its sleeve, a gentle acoustic ballad apologizing to his granddaughter for missing her birth, while offering earnest love and support.<\/p>\n These three tunes also underscore what Frampton is about here: taking stock of his life so far and examining his priorities, regrets, and wishes for the future. The rather Harrison-esque \u201cBreaking The Mold\u201d is very much in this vein, a mid-tempo number about \u201cbuilding a brand new me,\u201d featuring co-lead vocals from a luminous Sheryl Crow. The similarly trenchant blues-with-keys number \u201cI Can\u2019t Let It Be\u201d considers the personal cost of our divisive national conversation, a turn toward external concerns that\u2019s amplified by \u201cLions At The Gate,\u201d a thundering call to arms featuring Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello\u2019s banshee licks and co-lead vocals by Peter\u2019s son Julian Frampton.<\/p>\n \u201cIslamadora\u201d offers something of a cleansing breath, a soaring instrumental featuring Frampton trading pungent solos with guest H.E.R. Then the thrummy, contemplative \u201cCan You Take Me There,\u201d featuring a gorgeous intro by saxophonist Bill Evans, puts into words the overwhelm so many of us feel these days: \u201cI wanna know \/ Where do you go \/ When it all becomes too much\u2026 Can you take me there?\u201d<\/p>\n Evans sticks around for the similarly topical yet rather proggy \u201cTinderbox,\u201d which interpolates slow, jazzy segments with considerably heavier blues-rock moments. The album closes out with \u201cAt The End Of The Day,\u201d an unhurried instrumental that feels both sunny and sad.<\/p>\n While there might be fewer guitar pyrotechnics from Frampton here than in the past, his playing remains sharp, pure, and tasteful, an old master adding yet another notch to his legacy. The album\u2019s production is both punchy and crisp, helmed by Chuck Ainlay (Dire Straits \/ Mark Knopfler, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris) with Peter and Julian Frampton. Julian is also credited with co-writing all but the last of these tunes, making this a genuine family affair.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one thing the aging cadre of Sixties and Seventies rockers have proven, it\u2019s that you never know which late-career album might turn out to be their last. Peter Frampton has faced many forms of adversity across the years gone by since his 50-years-ago career apex, but against those considserable odds, Carry The Light<\/i> presents an artist near the top of his game, still creating new music that\u2019s meaningful, memorable, and full of life\u2014and not coincidentally, light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5954],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-47400","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-peter-frampton","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47400","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47400"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}