Danny Bryant - Rise

Size: 266 MB
Time: 40:25
File: Flac
Released: 2023
Styles: Blues, blues-rock
Art: Front

1. Rise (2:52)
2. Animal In Me (2:54)
3. Louise (3:39)
4. Hard Way To Go (4:04)
5. Scarlett Street (6:07)
6. Into The Slipstream (4:44)
7. Julienne (4:21)
8. Silver And Gold (3:15)
9. I Want You (6:14)
10. Drown (Jam) (2:11)

The title track was already released last June, providing a first impression of what was to come. A pounding three-minute blues rocker with sturdy power chords, horns and lyrical keyboard work by Jamie Pipe made people eagerly await the new album. With drummer Dave Raeburn, bassist Paul Mallatrat, guitarist Marc Raner and the aforementioned Pipe, a solid backing band has been formed and Bryant dares to deviate from his usual working method more often than we are used to. Louise has also been heard before. A heartbreaking blues ballad in which he is remarkably strong vocally and in which the accompanying guitar solos are of course not missing. Although there is little innovation here, it is striking that Bryant has developed strongly as a writer. You would almost forget that he is barely 43 years old. The compelling Into The Slipstream is a prime example of this. Bryant goes Gospel. Accompanied by extra vocals, we can actually speak of a highlight on Rise in which Bryant actually seems to rise above himself. So we immediately got the album title explained indirectly. Because of the powerful guitar parts, instead of such an abrupt ending, Louise deserved a much longer outro, the same applies to the title track and Animal in Me in which the three-minute limit is not even touched. Those ends appear to be a problem more often on this album. Something that will be irrevocably and undoubtedly adjusted with his upcoming live performances. While we heard a frustrated, angry and sometimes hyper-energetic Bryant who escaped from his Lockdown like a tiger on the loose, he now seems to be in a hurry and sometimes wants to cut corners very quickly. On the other hand, it has been decided to pay extensive attention to Bob Dylan's I Want You, a wonderful resting point on Rise. For no less than six minutes, Bryant lets himself go in an inspired rendition of the ballad that the master wrote in 1966 for the classic Blonde On Blonde. Redundant perhaps? Perhaps so, but we have now heard many lesser performances in which the feeling was lacking and the point was completely missed. So that is not the case here. The acoustic guitar on a light orchestral foundation is truly beautifully played, relaxed and performed with great feeling. Early fans will undoubtedly remember Girl From The North Country as it was often played live with the RedEyeBand. Dylan has always played an important role in Bryant's development as a musician and that appreciation is still expressed in a respectful manner. Fans of the heavier blues rock have also been taken into account. Hard Way To Go and the slow blues of Silver and Gold sound familiar and the closing track, the instrumental Drown (Jam), also shows the musician as we are used to. Bryant has built up a loyal fan base here from the very beginning. With his father by his side, the RedEyeBand was quickly able to build on an excellent live reputation. Papa Ken is no longer with us, he died shortly after his retirement age, but very soon Bryant and his band will be back in the country to present the new work live, which will undoubtedly win many new fans. The conclusion after listening to the ten tracks on the new album is that Danny Bryant is far from done. With Rise he has once again managed to raise the bar slightly without missing the mark anywhere.

Rise FLAC

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Danny Bryant - The Rage To Survive

Size: 95.6 MB
Time: 40:55
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2021
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. The Rage To Survive (3:01)
02. Trouble With Love (2:58)
03. Invisible Me (6:34)
04. Rescue Me (4:49)
05. Falling Tears (3:16)
06. Make Me Pay (3:24)
07. Rain Stopped Play (4:59)
08. Looking Good (3:02)
09. Till The Bottle Runs Dry (3:01)
10. Westport (5:47)

Danny Bryant, one of the UK’s leading and celebrated blues artists, is releasing his twelfth album ‘The Rage To Survive’ on 29 October through Jazzhaus Records. Following on from the critically acclaimed 2019 record ‘Means Of Escape’, this is one of his most heartfelt and powerful records yet.

As per ‘Means Of Escape’, Danny once again wrote and produced the record himself, working alongside Grammy Award winning Ian Dowling (Adele, KT Tunstall) who recorded, engineered and mixed the record. Moving from uncompromising thunderous blues tracks through to more tender emotional tracks, ‘The Rage To Survive’ is Danny pouring raw emotion into the record which took just four days to record!

The record was recorded as live – an experience Danny had craved since playing live was taking away from him and his band… “I wanted the record to have the energy of us playing live, it had been over a year since we had all been in a room together and the tracks ‘Looking Good’, ‘Till The Bottle Runs Dry’ and ‘Rescue Me’ I wrote very much with an eye on them being fun and cool songs to play live. It was a great experience, it was great being back with the guys playing again and I think that energy comes across in the music.”

Packed with his now notorious and celebrated signature guitar playing, the opening and title track ‘The Rage To Survive’ – inspired by his early feelings in lockdown and rescuing an abandoned dog from Romania – kicks in immediately with his gruff vocal which sets the tone for the album perfectly before moving into the more tender ‘Trouble With Love’ which carries a feel of late 60’s/early 70’s British blues and then into ‘Invisible Me’, a track about Danny’s own mental health challenges and the feeling of isolation in everyday life, before building back into ‘Rescue Me’.

‘Falling Tears’, a stripped back track with a more classic rock tilt gives the album a poignant middle point and builds back into ‘Make Me Pay’, a more traditional blues track flowing perfectly into the ‘Rain Stops Play’, a love song with a twist, before hitting the brass ensemble for the instrumental ‘Looking Good’ demonstrating Danny’s playing at it absolute best. The album wraps as it began with the hard rolling ‘Till The Bottle Run Dry’ into the ballad ‘Westport’. This is an album that takes the listener on a journey of emotion that seeps through every track.

The Rage To Survive MP3
The Rage To Survive FLAC

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Danny Bryant - Means Of Escape

Size: 119,2 MB
Time: 50:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Tired Of Trying (5:05)
02. Too Far Gone (6:06)
03. Means Of Escape (4:24)
04. Nine Lives (3:51)
05. Skin And Bone (3:46)
06. Warning Signs (In Her Eyes) (4:22)
07. Where The River Ends (5:54)
08. Hurting Time (4:29)
09. Mya (5:06)
10. Means Of Escape (Radio Edit) (3:51)*
11. Tired Of Trying (Radio Edit) (3:48)*

* From digital version

It’s tempting to view Danny Bryant’s ‘Means Of Escape’ as a conceptual title, reflecting the view that whatever changes he’s been though in his life, it’s his chosen profession as a musician that provides him with all the focus and creativity he requires in which to direct his considerable talents.

It’s also an album that works hard to strike a balance between his natural rock-blues instincts and those of an Americana balladeer. And while he doesn’t quite have the voice to stamp his own DNA on his better crafted songs, there’s no denying the veracity of his heart felt lyrics.

Lyrically speaking, ‘Means Of Escape’ sounds like an artist teetering on the brink of early middle age, with songs that search for meaning, inspiration and above all a musical direction.

Musically, it’s almost the opposite, as he fills his canvass with an aggressive swagger – full of fiery and gnawing licks – while his swelling melodies are tempered by a jagged edge as evidenced by tracks such as ‘Nine Lives’ and ‘Skin And Bone’, which looking back, collectively reflect the title of his 2010 album ‘Just As I Am’.

And it’s a mixture of self revelation and honesty that precludes Danny from becoming a populist Heartland rocker like John Mellencamp for example.

He enjoys a return to basics on a self produced bluesy set that is less diverse than his last 2 albums, but seeks to find a vital spark to capture those magical moments that do indeed provide him with his ‘Means of Escape’.

His decision to self produce is a significant one, on an album in which he stretches his blue collar persona into the personal realms of reflection, introspection, and poignancy. And while his vocals sometimes struggle to emulate some of his ideas and incendiary guitar playing, there’s no denying that when he lights the emotional touch paper it frequently leads to inspirational moments.

He’s at his best on the rich toned, ‘Too Far Gone’ on which his incisive guitar lines cut a swathe through a big band arrangement. The title track much like powerhouse opener ‘Tired Of Trying’ mirrors his mentor Walter Trout’s passion and intensity. The second defining solo on the latter song is a perfect conduit for conveying both emotion and meaning as he racks up the intensity.

Then there a welcome reworking of his best ever ballad ‘Where The River Ends’ from his 2003 album ‘Shadows Passed’ album. Here, it is denuded of its original sparse, synth-based arrangement and given a more organic feel. He threads his guitar line through the middle of a slow build, sandwiching Stevie Watts piano and organ doubling, between a contrasting piercing solo and warm toned resolution that carries an emotional punch.

He’s even better on the instrumental book-end of ‘Mya’, a keyboard-led instrumental with a swelling melody and inspired guitar solo that like ‘Too Far Gone’ and ‘Nine Lives’ loses a shade of its impact because of a perfunctory fade.

The best moments come when his song craft aligns with a bright sonic quality. On the unflinching ‘Skin And Bone’ – an ode to his dad which is every bit as good as, but much different to ‘Shouting At The Moon’ (from ‘Revelation’), his rough edged approach to both production and vocal phrasing seems to aim squarely at capturing raw gut emotion at the expense of refinement.

And while the rough-hewn Texas styled shuffle of’ ‘Nine Lives’ undoubtedly captures the intrinsic live feel of the band, it feels more like a filler track than something he worked hard on to fit the album.

‘Warning Signs (In Her Eyes)’ is full of his archetypal live bluster and is given extra heft by the horns, while his vocal on ‘Hurting Time’ could have been better, or at the very least slightly more considered, particularly as it sequenced between two of his very best tracks.

But what you get with Danny Bryant is nothing less than honesty. Whereas his previous two albums represented a quantum leap in terms of both song writing, production and an overall vision, ‘Means Of Escape’ is a re-statement of his unfettered musical impulses and influences.

At its best ‘Means Of Escape’ plays to Danny’s strengths as a guitarist and successfully ask much of his nascent writing ability, while the more rough-edged tracks feel like a glance back at his former self.

He’s moved on of course, but while ‘Means Of Escape’ is rock solid and fired up enough to satisfy the need for a solid ‘live in the studio’ band album, it is one catalytic element short of pushing Danny to his full potential.

There’s still much to enjoy from an artist who still has plenty more to give. Press play and immerse yourself. **** ~Pete Feenstra

Means Of Escape

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Danny Bryant - 2 albums: Revelation / Watching You

Album: Revelation
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:08
Size: 110.2 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2018
Art: Front

[5:34] 1. Revelation
[5:57] 2. Isolate
[4:12] 3. Liars Testament
[5:34] 4. Someday The Rains Will Fall
[4:28] 5. Truth Or Dare
[5:05] 6. Shouting At The Moon
[4:27] 7. Sister Decline
[6:08] 8. May I Have A Talk With You
[6:37] 9. Yours For A Song

His fourth studio album to be produced by Richard Hammerton, following in the footsteps of 2015’s Blood Money and 2014’s Temperature Rising, the new album is one of Danny’s most personal and emotional albums of his career.

“When I began writing this album, I knew that it was going to be one of the toughest challenges of my career,” says Danny. “It wasn’t lack of material, it wasn’t a lack of desire, but I realised from the beginning that, if this record was to achieve the things I wanted it to say, I would have to go deep inside of myself with these songs and confront memories and emotions I didn’t really want to face.”

Revelation mc
Revelation zippy

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Album: Watching You
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:35
Size: 97.5 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2002/2015
Art: Front

[4:15] 1. Watching You!
[6:43] 2. Since You've Gone
[4:05] 3. Living In The Lion's Den
[3:22] 4. Crying For My Baby
[3:52] 5. Search For You
[3:17] 6. Heartbreaker
[3:35] 7. Purple
[3:51] 8. Follow On
[4:36] 9. Dancing Girl
[4:55] 10. Falling Tears

Bass – Ken Bryant; Drums – Andy Burt; Guitar, Vocals – Danny Bryant; Organ – Dominic Boucher. Re-release of Danny's stunning debut album.

Watching You mc
Watching You zippy

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Various - Blues Matters! (Blues Without The Blinkers)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:06
Size: 151.3 MB
Styles: Blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[5:51] 1. Roadhouse - Broken Land
[4:28] 2. King Cotton - Long Legged Woman
[3:37] 3. Dave Berry - Mercury Blues
[1:46] 4. Sean Webster - Mama
[5:50] 5. Innes Sibun - So Tired Of Living
[3:50] 6. The Mellotones - You Gotta Have A Man
[4:57] 7. The Roach Twins Band - Got A New Job
[3:41] 8. The Brew - The Prowler
[2:03] 9. Memphis In The Meantime - Perfect Day For The Blues
[2:53] 10. Roy Metté - When My Ship Comes In
[3:09] 11. The Swampnobs - Run To Me
[7:06] 12. The Mick Rutherford Band - Love In The Fast Lane
[4:46] 13. The Strats - Warriors Of The Night
[3:01] 14. Sons Of The Delta - Skinnybone
[2:56] 15. Tony McPhee - Devilled
[2:55] 16. The Mustangs - Wired
[3:11] 17. Danny Bryant - Last Man Standing

Blues Matters! (Blues Without The Blinkers)

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Danny Bryant - Big (Live In Europe)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 89:31
Size: 204.9 MB
Styles: Blues Rock
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[ 5:53] 1. Temperature Rising
[11:52] 2. Just Won't Burn
[ 6:09] 3. Prisoner Of The Blues
[ 7:29] 4. Holding All The Cards
[ 4:58] 5. Greenwood 31
[ 7:02] 6. Groaning The Blues
[ 5:35] 7. Blood Money
[ 4:16] 8. On The Rocks
[ 9:33] 9. As The Years Go Passing By
[ 4:59] 10. Take Me Higher
[ 6:52] 11. Unchained
[ 7:46] 12. Painkiller
[ 7:02] 13. Stop Breaking Down

"BIG is the realization of a dream that has accompanied the British blues guitarist and singer Danny Bryant since the beginning of his career. The dream of recording his songs live with a 9-piece big band was put into reality. The charismatic musician presented his songs to his audience at three exclusive shows in Germany and the Netherlands, supported by keyboards, bass, drums, rhythm guitar and a 4-piece brass section. 8232; Danny Bryant performed songs of his latest three studio albums Hurricane, Temperature Rising and Blood Money, all re-arranged for a big band. Among were songs that were never been played live before, such as the title song of the 2014 album Temperature Rising". Together with blues classics like the emotional As The Years Go Passing By (Otis Rush), the result is a high-tension mix of songs. The concerts were recorded by Danny Bryant's producer Richard Hammerton, who was also responsible for the last three studio albums. The result is so brilliant that the album will be released in physical format as a double live CD and on vinyl on 21 April 2017. Danny will celebrate the release with three big-band shows in Belfast, Edinburgh and London at the end of April. Danny: Recording this special live project has been a real labour of love for me. For a long time I have dreamed of hearing my songs placed in the context of a big band setting. Everyone gelled together so perfectly and the three shows that we recorded (the results of which you hold in your hands) were among some of the most enjoyable of my career so far. I can honestly say that I am more proud of this album than any project I have ever done."

Big (Live In Europe) mc

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Danny Bryant - 2 albums: Hurricane / Night Life: Live In Holland

Album: Hurricane
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:55
Size: 100.5 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:30] 1. Prisoner Of The Blues
[3:46] 2. Greenwood 31
[5:15] 3. Can't Hold On
[3:58] 4. Hurricane
[5:11] 5. Devils Got A Hold On Me
[5:35] 6. I'm Broken
[4:12] 7. All Or Nothing
[4:48] 8. Losing You
[5:38] 9. Painkiller

Hailed as a young guitar virtuoso, Walter Trout protégé Danny Bryant is building a formidable reputation as a leading British blues-rock guitar heavyweight in his own right. This release highlights his power-fueled originals, groove-driven songs, and soulful blues ballads.

Hurricane mc
Hurricane zippy

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Album: Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Night Life: Live In Holland
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:25
Size: 156.6 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[ 8:23] 1. Tell Me
[ 9:40] 2. Just As I Am
[ 6:54] 3. Heartbreaker
[ 8:31] 4. Love Of Angels
[ 8:29] 5. Master Of Disaster
[ 3:30] 6. One Look
[ 5:28] 7. My Baby's A Superstar
[ 5:22] 8. Knockin' On Heavens Door
[12:03] 9. Always With Me

Excellent example of Danny's style of hard driving rock blues. Sound quality is good, but mostly this is an energetic raw look at his top-notch playing. ~R. Barry

Night Life: Live In Holland mc
Night Life: Live In Holland zippy

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