Marcus King has gone to the arena on his new album “Young Blood”. The Blues and Soul are still there, but they take a back seat to 70’s Hard Rock. This album shows influences of Free, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath and Bad Company. This is an arena sized album. King and producer Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) intentionally set out to make a Hard Rock album. King needed to exercise some demons on this album, and he addresses these on a personal level in many of these songs. He sings about Rock and Roll excess, break ups and trying to get his life together. Interestingly the album is not being released on Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label. Instead, they are releasing “Young Blood” via Rick Rubin’s American Recordings. This is an album so steeped in 70’s Rock it should probably be first enjoyed via 8 track cruising in a 1973 Mustang Mach 1. He is even earning fans from the era. Paul Rodgers the lead singer of Free and Bad Company tweeted a shout out when he first heard the album’s first single “Hard Working Man”. King also now has his own signature Gibson guitar and the first ever US build custom Orange Amps. In other words, he is geared up and ready to tour behind these songs. He has emerged from a dark period healthier, with a new perspective and a new fiancé.
The album starts out with the enthralling “It’s Too Late” and never lets up until the last cut “Blues Worse Than I Ever Had” The album is devoid of the Soul ballads that are on his previous albums, but his vocals still somehow drip with Soul, even while sounding like ZZ Top or Black Sabbath. A perfect example is the song “Rescue Me”, which is a literal cry for help with a Hendrix inspired solo. The album was recorded during 2021 when he was emerging from his dark period, and despite all of that this may be his most accomplished album.
About the author: Chip and his family live in Birmingham, AL. Roll Tide!