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The Grammy-nominated, platinum selling blues guitarist and singer/songwriter, Johnny Lang, returns with his latest album TURN AROUND. The new album is the pivotal release of Lang's career to date a passage that links the triumphs of the past to the promise of his future. TURN AROUND was produced by Ron Fair and includes appearances by Drew Ramsey, Shannon Sanders and Steven Curtis Chapman.
The churchy organ that opens and closes Jonny Lang's fifth album reveals its direction. After 2003's Long Time Coming plunged the once-up-and-coming blues guitarist into more soulful and commercial waters, Turn Around completes the transition. Lang is lyrically direct in his spiritual awakening, and the uplifting if sometimes pedantic lyrics make it clear that any vestiges of the teenaged guitar slinger that knocked out an impressive version of the lascivious "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" on his debut are far in the past. A few short leads aside, Lang shifts into full Stevie Wonder/Prince mode, but unfortunately without the quality material that made those artists' work transcend genre. With vocals that shift from guttural howls to sweet and screaming falsetto on tunes like "Don't Stop (For Anything)" and a penchant for oversinging, he's not aiming for subtlety. But there are some winning melodies here: songs such as "Anything's Possible" and "One Person at a Time" boast catchy choruses in a funkified, gospel-tinged, adult-alternative vein bound to appeal to audiences that lean towards obvious religious references in their music. This is a well crafted, undeniably heartfelt set from Lang, who makes it abundantly clear he feels his destiny is to make the world a better place through Jesus. It's a valid enough objective that doesn't quite connect with Lang's rather heavy-handed lyrics, affected singing, and derivative tunes. --Hal Horowitz
A professional musician since age 12, Lang rocketed from his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, to international renown in his mid teens. While kids his age were still playing high school gigs, he was touring with giants like the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, trading licks with mentors like B. B. King and Buddy Guy, and being lauded by U.S. News and World Report for having "the voice of a grizzled blues veteran ... and guitar skills to match."
Turn Around proves that, unlike many one-time wunderkind performers, Jonny Lang has grown to exceed the expectations that heralded his ascendance. Produced by Ron Fair (Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Counting Crows), energized through collaboration with songwriter/performers Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, anchored and elevated by former Prince NPG rhythm dynamo Michael Bland, Turn Around is Lang's fifth album - but it's also the first of what will become his most moving and enduring works.
"Every record I've done has felt progressively more and more like the real me," he sums up. "But more than anything I've done, this one comes straight from my heart."
That, then, is the message of Jonny Lang: To Turn Around, you move ahead. It's that simple - and powerful.
