Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Paul Jones: The Thunderthief

128

John Paul Jones: The Thunderthief

By

View read count
John Paul Jones: The Thunderthief
Famous for his affiliation with hard rock rockers Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones is a proficient multi-instrumentalist who has delved into multiple genres since the mega-popular band’s departure from the scene. He has produced various artists and has composed for film, amid collaborations with avant-garde diva Diamanda Galás and others. The Thunderthief represents only his third solo effort.

King Crimson’s fabled guitar hero Robert Fripp provides a stinging solo on the power packed opener, “Leafy Meadows.” Meanwhile, Jones utilizes a vast array of instruments along with some assistance from Chapman Stick ace Nick Beggs, drummer Terl Bryant, and guitarist Adam Bomb. This production features a vibrant mix, consisting of hard driving progressive rock numbers, folksy deities, and angst ridden tunes that feature Jones’ rather opaque vocalise. One of the unlikely gems on this outing, “Ice Fishing at Night,” features the leader’s enticingly melodic acoustic piano work and endearing lyricism, enhanced by introspective vocalizations. Jones’ hurried and somewhat forced vocals come to fruition on a few of the burning rockers, yet the slightly tongue-in-cheek lyrics allude to a lack of austerity – and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

On the piece titled “Hoediddle,” Jones fuses a bit of hard rock with an enticing Irish jig: an opus that serves as another testament to this man’s pronounced ingenuity. Sure, some of these tunes fare better than others, but the bottom line here is Jones’ wide-ranging tendencies. In retrospect, it becomes easily discernible why his compositional and instrumental contributions to Led Zeppelin were key to that band’s success. We can only hope for fewer gaps between forthcoming solo endeavors.

P> John Paul Jones

Track Listing

1.Leafy Meadows 2.the Thunderthief 3.Hoediddle 4.Ice Fishing at Night 5.Daphne 6.Angry Angry 7.Down to the River to Pray 8.Shibuya Bop 9.Freedom Song

Personnel

John Paul Jones: vocals

Album information

Title: The Thunderthief | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: Unknown label

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.