Love Machine: Honesty in the world of Rock Music
by: John Gardiner
Music just ain’t what it used to be……at least that’s the opinion of this writer……there’s still good stuff out there but it’s a huge challenge finding it because of all the not-so-good stuff in the system. Today, anyone can try to be an artist of any kind and particularly a musician. You can sample this, and tweak that and make just about anything into a piece of music…
That’s why when someone with a real love of music hears Just B and what he has to offer, there is a connection made. Just B’s tunes are real music, carefully crafted, seriously thought-out and passionately delivered in a style that rings true with anyone who can recognize a good tune when they hear it. Love Machine, one of the Just B. catalogue, is evidence of what makes good rock music in the here and now.
And to keep it simple, that’s really what this record offers…….straight-ahead, straightforward rock ‘n’ roll music that is filled with tunes like Mary Ann, which pulls the listener back into the decade of love, the Sixties, and leaves strong memories of the way things were. That is followed by Your Love, a hauntingly beautiful ballad that
feels both sincere and honest.
And indeed, the way things go, anyone one of us could indeed be Buddha, as Just B declares and there is a kind of an eerie reality and grimness to some of the lyrics and they can catch you by surprise and cause you to take notice…….and they make you think and they just feel like real music about real people for real people….
If there’s one thing I’ve done in life, it’s listen to music and more rock ‘n’ roll than anything else. I know good stuff….music that stays with you….that you end up singing or humming as you’re driving in the car. Love Machine is a disc filled with that type of music. It fixes itself in your mind and demands that you at least think about making a difference. It’s music with a social conscience and that is something we badly need these days….and it’s not only music with a social conscience, it’s great music
with a social conscience….
Know that Just B’s music is where rock ‘n’ roll would have gone if it had been true to itself and its ideals, instead of being bought out by a consumer-obsessed marketplace. It’s excellent stuff, more than worthy of being listened to and becoming part of your music collection……As Just B. says, Let Yerself Go…..