Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Alexander wept as he found he had little left to overcome and occupy, Robin Trower, the iconic British Bluesman who was one of the forces of genius behind Procol Harum and has performed with legends such as Jack Bruce and Bryan Ferry, on the other hand still has much to put down in sheet music, still has much to say and translate into the voice of his trusted guitar, that his new album’s title might seem a tad premature, for while the label might read No More Worlds To Conquer, surely there are realms in which the master can place before the uninitiated his sizeable and overwhelming musical talent.
Perhaps it comes down to nurturing what Mr. Trower has already sown, no more waging war with the aid of several strings, but fostering, cultivating, harness the potential of the very soul that has thrilled generations of music lovers since he worked with the much-missed Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Dave Knights, and Barrie Wilson and set the standard in an almost out of atmospheric reach for others to follow and emulate.
No More Worlds To Conquer is moving, not just stirring in the way that you hope the nestling triumph of the maestro’s enormous catalogue should be, but it takes on and furthers the progress of evolution, no more worlds to conquer, but plenty to help shape, to cultivate, to cherish and support, and it is this dynamic encouragement of sound, of blissful imagination, of searing anger delivered to the heart of current ministers and saints who find they have no compulsion to save us, that conquer is replaced by sustaining, of pushing the boundary back against fear and damage, and injecting the purity of hope.
The sun never sets on a world with belief, and as songs and tracks such as Ball Of Fire, Losing You, Waiting For The Rain To Fall, I Will Always Be Your Shelter, The Razor’s Edge, and the album’s title track, No More Worlds To Conquer, all leave their dramatic impact on the soul and psyche of the listener, what remains intact is hope, everything is dismantled, broken down and rebuilt, for this is an album of emergence, no more worlds to conquer, but multitudes in which witness flourish; as spring must follow winter, so invention must prevail when all around you is willing to stagnate.
You would expect nothing less than exceptional from Robin Trower, and even after six decades of pursuing hope and belief, of producing albums of sheer quality, there is still another fertile land waiting for him to sow the seeds of future possibilities and groove.
Robin Trower releases No More Worlds To Conquer on April 29th via Provogue.
Ian D. Hall