Huey Lewis & the News
Soulsville
Release Date: Nov 2, 2010
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Bar Band
Record label: W.O.W. Records
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Soulsville from Amazon
Album Review: Soulsville by Huey Lewis & the News
Very Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Soulsville U.S.A. was the Memphis neighborhood where the great Stax label was located during the ‘60s and ‘70s, so it only makes sense that Huey Lewis & the News decided to call their album-length salute to Stax Soulsville, saluting a place that has, some 40 years later, turned into a state of mind. The group headed to Memphis to cut this 14-track album but since the Stax studio has long since shuttered, they went to Ardent, yet another legendary Memphis studio, to record with producer Jim Gaines, who helmed the band’s big ‘80s hits Sports and Fore! Not surprisingly, Soulsville winds up like a bunch of old friends having fun revisiting their favorite tunes.
Opinion: Very Good
Huey Lewis and the News haven’t made an album in nearly a decade. But for a few years during the ‘80s, they were one of the highest-grossing and best-selling acts on the planet, with songs like “I Want a New Drug” and “The Power of Love” that were not only well-crafted and catchy, but were superbly produced and performed. The News today is mostly intact, and on the band’s new CD, Soulsville, the absence of original guitarist Chris Hayes and bassist Mario Cipollina isn’t even conspicuous, as this is an album Lewis could have made with pretty much anyone.
'Soulsville'
is available now