Hello everyone, and how do you all enjoy the Black Country Communion? I quite like them, Joe Bonomoamsannsma is very good indeed, Jason Bonham is good, very good actually, but not as good as his dad, I don't know who plays keyboards but he's very good (but always turned down too much on the albums unless he's doing a solo which is annoying), and Glenn Hughes is an annoying twat with an amazing but also really annoying voice. Anyway, it's great to hear a band bringing out some good old rock in this kind of way, it's basically a hybrid of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and... well that's it really.

And this is my problem with this band. I'm listening to their new album now, and it's pretty rocking, but it's seems like all they want to do is become Led Purple. Or perhaps Deep Zeppelin if you will. I don't know if I just think that because of the Hughes/Bonham combo, but it does feel like that. Bonham is obviously upset that the Zeppelin 'reunion' didn't happen, and Glenn Hughes is just going around being a right old dickhead, screaming everywhere and being hilarious. Which is a shame, because this band is so amazingly talented and are writing some great stuff, but I think they have some sort of 'supergroup' ego that gets in their way and stops them from being the truly creative rock 'n' roll band they obviously think they are. Instead, they're good, but not breaking any new ground, and whilst I do enjoy listening to them, I can't help but thinking I might as well just stick on some Deep Purple instead.

But I haven't listened to all of this album yet, so who knows, it might be amazing and soon I might just be eating my words and shitting them out everywhere.

Had no clue a new album was going on. At first was really impressed with BCC but then it did get a bit annoying because of it's ridiculousness - mainly Hughes' OTT vocals, like you say Jon. I now prefer the Bonamassa-led tracks on the album. Would like to see them play, though. And I will see what this new album's like...

I like both their debut and the new one. Good old-fashioned 70's hard rock. And I still love Hughes' vocals. Best thing he's done vocally since Phenomena.

Well I have indeed listened to the album, and whilst it is highly enjoyable indeed (there is indeed a song sung by Joe Bonononmamasasas and it's very good, he has a nice voice indeed), it's not quite the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread was a wonderful invention, and this is no way near as inventive. Take the song Since I've Been Loving You - sorry, I mean Little Secret, or Kashmi- sorry, almost did it again, I mean Save Me. Well listen here, I'd rather a band pretend to be Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin (and considering their history/connections, you can't blame them I suppose) than Limp Bizkit or Korn, but still, something about the whole thing just makes me get bored of this very quickly. I actually do think this second album is fantastic in places, and overall better than the first album, so don't get me wrong here - it is a bloody good album. I think maybe the fact that it's a bloody 'supergroup' makes me think it should be better than this. It brings to mind that saying that reviewers like to use about the 'sum of its parts' - in this case, this does not measure up to the sum of its bloody parts. If an unknown band came out with stuff like this, I'd say 'absolutely yes, well done indeed', but it's a bit annoying to see Glenn Hughes cash in on his past and Jason Bonham cash in on his dad.

I'll tell you what I mean - when I listen to a band, I like to feel that what I'm listening to is what is genuinely coming from the band's heart and soul (ie. Dio, Black Sabbath, Comus, Fleet Foxes, Graveyard, Deep Purple (Fireball/Machine Head era), Thin Lizzy, lots of other lovely things like this), but I just don't feel that here. This feels forced, fake, I don't know, anything but soulful. I don't know why I get that feeling. Maybe I just hate Glen Hughes and his stupid hair and sunglasses and coat. But basically that's it. Black Country Communion: nice on the outside, but no soul on the inside.

Interestingly, I read that 'Save Me' is the song that Bonham started working on in the hope that Zeppelin were going to 'reunite' - you can definitely hear that, especially in the way the song completely tries to be a new Kashmir. As a result, because it tries so hard so be the same kind of epic song, it ends up being okay, but second-rate by comparison. I'm glad Zeppelin didn't reunite if this is the kind of stuff they were going to come up with. Well done Robert Plant. Go away Glen Hughes.

I think you're being a bit harsh there, Jon. I can see your point and agree with it to some extent but not with quite the same force. I definitely think this is not a cash-in for either Bonham or Hughes - I do think this is sincere but, I think they might believe their own hype a bit much and so they might be a bit uncritical of their efforts. Still, I listened to the single Man in the Middle and thought it sounded good. The consensus seems to be that it's better than the debut, more cohesive and 'band-feeling'. Jon, are you going High Voltage and will you watch these wonders? I imagine they must be a live good one.

I probably am being a bit harsh because despite everything I said they are really good, but you know how I just like to go mad. Although there is still something about this band that annoys me, whether it's the 'supergroup' hype, the hilarity of Glen Hughes, or the fact that it's just way too close to Zeppelin/Purple in places I don't know.

I don't know if I'm doing High Voltage - I'm going to a folky festival type thing on the Sunday anyway, but I was considering the Saturday, but then KK left Priest... so I'm still not sure yet, but I'll consider it! Do you know which day BCC are playing? I would like to see them live, I bet they'd be a good bit of fun.

BCC is on the Sunday.

Ah well, that's that then.

Well, I listened to the album 2 again yesterday, and I must say, it isn't actually that great after all... the first song is amazing though. That's the problem really, it's so fast and great and has a cool chorus, and a really cool Richie Blackmore bit near the end, and it's all really great, and then the album just slows down and gets boring and a bit of a shame really. It's not all boring, there's a cool song called The Battle For Hadrian's Wall and... I can't remember what else. There's one other fast track on there that's pretty rockin', but generally the album as a whole is a bit dull. Not too bad, but could and should be much better, considering what these blokes are capable of. The album is basically saved by their amazing musical goodness, otherwise I'd say 'no way, get out.' But perhaps it's their amazing goodness that gets in the way, in the sense that they're so good at playing their instruments that they sometimes forget how to write amazing songs. That reminds me of a thing I heard Dio talk about in an interview - he was talking about how he came up with Don't Talk To Strangers on a guitar, and because he can't play guitar that well, he ends up coming up with stuff that people can connect with more because it's not someone trying to show off, it's just catchy lovely moving goodness.

I mean, just look at Yngwie Malmsteen.

don't like it as much as the first album but there is some cool stuff in there. First 2 tracks stand out and the rest kind of blends together even after a few listens. deff doesn't make me want to pay £60 for a gig ticket for them, would rather see bonamassa and glen hughes separately. can probably see both for less than one bcc show.