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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Dancing My Blues Away |
| 2. Rock And Roll Tonight |
| 3. Never Tie Me Down |
| 4. The Chance Of Love |
| 5. The Last Open Road |
| 6. Electric Guitar |
| 7. Money |
| 8. The Way She Moves |
| 9. Dance With Me All Night Long |
| 10. Think Like A Woman |
| 11. You Got Lucky |
| 12. Lose My Heart In You |
| 13. I Will Go On |
Product Description
Review
Always beware the senior rock musician who becomes too fascinated with the intricacies of his craft. Chris Rea has already released one album devoted to a guitar, 2008 'comeback' album The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes, along with the whopping 137-track Blues Guitars collection that appeared in 2005 following his battle with pancreatitis.
Santo Spirito Blues, then, follows a similar trusty, hoary old path. The cover art, a painting of a blue guitar that you might find in a Spanish art gallery aimed at English tourists, points to this, as do track titles that are straight out of the canon - Rock and Roll Tonight, The Last Open Road, Electric Guitar, and so on.
As a straightforward homage to blues traditionalism, Santo Spirito Blues can't really be faulted. Rea's playing is exemplary, his songwriting accomplished, the boxes ticked. Yet it's hard not to feel that there's something missing from the endeavour.
Money starts with atmospheric jazz, complete with added vinyl scratches, but becomes lost in bombast, lyrics that run "it's all about the money!" feeling a little too close to the bone. Electric Guitar is in the tradition of songs devoted to the six string, strangely male, and doing a merry dance with lyrical clich�: "Got me a box with a speaker / Gonna make that angel sing", "Every song about a railway track / Every song about not going back", and so on. With the master of modernising the blues, Tom Waits, about to return with a new album, Rea unfortunately strays too far into pastiche.
What's frustrating is that there is one standout track here that shows just what Rea is capable of when he's not overly focussed on playing, and eulogising, the guitar. Alright, so The Chance of Love is remarkably similar to Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing, but it's a pacy, heady track reminiscent of Rea at his 80s best. Crucially, the simple guitar lines and sax allow his greatest asset, that gravelly voice, to breathe. It's a shame that, elsewhere in this album, it so struggles to be heard.
--Luke Turner
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CD Description
Following his sell-out UK & European tour in 2010, and 2009’s UK top ten album Still So Far To Go - The Best Of Chris Rea, one of the UK’s foremost singer-songwriters returns with his first new material in over ten years. The elaborate three-CD and two-DVD The Santo Spirito Project includes a brand new studio album, featuring "Dancing My Blues Away", "Never Tie Me Down", "The Chance Of Love", "Rock & Roll Tonight", "Electric Guitar" and "The Last Open Road".
Additionally, The Santo Spirito Project features two bespoke feature films on DVD, written and directed by Chris. The first feature is a raw and brutally honest chronicle on bullfighting, featuring neo-classical and Spanish-themed gypsy music. The second feature follows a man on a search for the truth in the city of Florence, a journey he may or may not wish he began. The soundtrack for both films is featured on two CDs. Here, Chris explains his rationale for such an ambitious project:
"I love creating things and passionately believe artists should be looking to try new ways of bringing what we do to the public. There should be no rules whatsoever and, for God’s sake, there are alternatives to TV talent shows. Sometimes, those who have had extremely good fortune in music allow only X Factor type TV shows to set the musical and cultural agenda of this country by actually doing nothing new or different themselves."
Additionally, The Santo Spirito Project features two bespoke feature films on DVD, written and directed by Chris. The first feature is a raw and brutally honest chronicle on bullfighting, featuring neo-classical and Spanish-themed gypsy music. The second feature follows a man on a search for the truth in the city of Florence, a journey he may or may not wish he began. The soundtrack for both films is featured on two CDs. Here, Chris explains his rationale for such an ambitious project:
"I love creating things and passionately believe artists should be looking to try new ways of bringing what we do to the public. There should be no rules whatsoever and, for God’s sake, there are alternatives to TV talent shows. Sometimes, those who have had extremely good fortune in music allow only X Factor type TV shows to set the musical and cultural agenda of this country by actually doing nothing new or different themselves."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I always look forward to any new release from Chris Rea, and based on his previous two boxed set releases my expectations for this new one were high. I bought this set primarily for the CDs and I will limit this review to them as I don't consider myself qualified to review the DVDs. CD 1 'SANTO SPIRITO BLUES' pretty much follows the course Chris has been on since 'Dancing down the Stony Road', superbly played and well constucted blues songs. Although I love the huge 'Blue Guitars' boxed set I actually think this album contains stronger songs than were evident on that set. I would compare this album favourably with 'Stony Road'. Now to the two soundtrack CDs. 'Bullfighting', is a superb instrumental outing. Not surprisingly given that the theme of the film it supports is bullfighting, it has a very Spanish feel to it. The guitar playing throughout is exeptional, I would have been quite happy to have purchased this one as a full-priced CD. CD 2 Santo Spirito is an even more instantly rewarding listening experience full of very catchy melodies and featuring that atmospheric electric guitar sound that Chris is such a master of. Unlike the rest of the album, 'Somewhere Between the Stars' the 7th and final track of this cd is not an instrumental. This is a great track, equal in my opinion to anything on the 'main' album. The only downside of this CD is the running time of just over 28 minutes, however given the context of this huge (and inexpensive) set that is a very minor quibble. According to the sleevenotes, all instruments rather than just guitar on this set are played by Chris Rea. Often when a musician, however competent employs multi-tracking and plays all the instruments her/himself the sense of musicality and spontaneity can be diminished or lost. This has not happened here, these albums sound like they are played by a band. So an excellent set of CDs all round. Even the packaging of this set is superior. Foregoing the usual breakable plastic inserts from which the discs are often difficult to remove, this set consists of very heavy duty card into which the discs can be safely and easily removed and replaced. All in all a superb quality boxed set at a bargain price. The quality of this item puts that of many other highly expensive sets to shame.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Chris Rea likes to offer his fans something a bit different and he has certainly done that with this great value and beautifully packaged set.
CD 1 Santo Spirito Blues is full of bluesy rock music very much in the tradition of Blue Guitars and Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes. If you liked those albums, you'll like this. If you didn't, you won't. Most of the songs are new, but a different version of `Electric Guitar' from the Blue Guitars album is included. There's a nice mix of up tempo songs such as Dancing the Blues Away and Rock and Roll Tonight; and slower numbers like Money and the lovely Think Like A Woman. This is a typical Chris Rea bluesy album and on a par with his other recent excellent recordings.
DVD 1 Bull Fighting illustrates the cruelty of this "sport" in graphic detail. It tells the story of a bull fight from two perspectives: first the matador's and then the bull's. Few will side with the matador's viewpoint once they have seen the appalling and bloody cruelty with which the beast is finally killed. Sensitive souls beware, the blood and gore is shown in some detail. I confess to having attended a bull fight in Barcelona nearly 40 years ago (on a school trip believe it or not) and this film served as an uncomfortable reminder of what a ghastly activity bullfighting is.
CD 2 is the soundtrack to the Bull Fighting DVD. In stark contrast to CD1, this is dominated by Spanish style acoustic guitar. There's nothing up tempo here, it's pretty much all adagio, but it makes for very pleasant laid back listening. It's low key and not something I am likely to sit and listen to often, but it makes perfect background music for working or reading and I have already enjoyed using it that way.
DVD 2 Santo Spirito follows the progress of a man in search of The Truth on the streets of Florence, from the perspective of several aliens who are monitoring his every move and hoping that he will not succeed! It is best taken as a clever and thought-provoking piece of fiction rather than as possessing any great deeper meaning. I had hoped to enjoy scenes of Florence along the way, but it's mostly filmed in an arty farty shaky camera style with swiftly changing black and white images which becomes a bit tedious. Fascinating enough to watch once, but, just like the Bull Fight DVD, it's not one I am likely to watch twice.
CD 3, the soundtrack to the Santo Spirito DVD, contains a couple of beautiful electric guitar instrumentals, comparable to some of the material on Blue Guitars (e.g. Celtic Blue, Too Far From Home) and at times reminiscent of Pink Floyd's dreamy instrumental style. Excellent stuff. This CD ends fittingly with a great song `Somewhere Between the Stars' which could have been included on CD 1 but sits very nicely here.
In the end, while the DVDs are an interesting bonus, it's the music that will provide lasting pleasure and the three CDs included here are well worth the entrance fee.
CD 1 Santo Spirito Blues is full of bluesy rock music very much in the tradition of Blue Guitars and Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes. If you liked those albums, you'll like this. If you didn't, you won't. Most of the songs are new, but a different version of `Electric Guitar' from the Blue Guitars album is included. There's a nice mix of up tempo songs such as Dancing the Blues Away and Rock and Roll Tonight; and slower numbers like Money and the lovely Think Like A Woman. This is a typical Chris Rea bluesy album and on a par with his other recent excellent recordings.
DVD 1 Bull Fighting illustrates the cruelty of this "sport" in graphic detail. It tells the story of a bull fight from two perspectives: first the matador's and then the bull's. Few will side with the matador's viewpoint once they have seen the appalling and bloody cruelty with which the beast is finally killed. Sensitive souls beware, the blood and gore is shown in some detail. I confess to having attended a bull fight in Barcelona nearly 40 years ago (on a school trip believe it or not) and this film served as an uncomfortable reminder of what a ghastly activity bullfighting is.
CD 2 is the soundtrack to the Bull Fighting DVD. In stark contrast to CD1, this is dominated by Spanish style acoustic guitar. There's nothing up tempo here, it's pretty much all adagio, but it makes for very pleasant laid back listening. It's low key and not something I am likely to sit and listen to often, but it makes perfect background music for working or reading and I have already enjoyed using it that way.
DVD 2 Santo Spirito follows the progress of a man in search of The Truth on the streets of Florence, from the perspective of several aliens who are monitoring his every move and hoping that he will not succeed! It is best taken as a clever and thought-provoking piece of fiction rather than as possessing any great deeper meaning. I had hoped to enjoy scenes of Florence along the way, but it's mostly filmed in an arty farty shaky camera style with swiftly changing black and white images which becomes a bit tedious. Fascinating enough to watch once, but, just like the Bull Fight DVD, it's not one I am likely to watch twice.
CD 3, the soundtrack to the Santo Spirito DVD, contains a couple of beautiful electric guitar instrumentals, comparable to some of the material on Blue Guitars (e.g. Celtic Blue, Too Far From Home) and at times reminiscent of Pink Floyd's dreamy instrumental style. Excellent stuff. This CD ends fittingly with a great song `Somewhere Between the Stars' which could have been included on CD 1 but sits very nicely here.
In the end, while the DVDs are an interesting bonus, it's the music that will provide lasting pleasure and the three CDs included here are well worth the entrance fee.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Brilliant music......but a word of warning, the Bull Fighting DVD is one of the most harrowing films I have ever sat through. You really will only sit through this once as the memory of it will stick with you for ever. Civilised world? I think not.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
CD
Interesting new CD from Chris Rea. Takes a little time to view and pretty heavy stuff! We love his earlier music and this is intriguing as well.
Published 8 days ago by Donna
Chris Rea
this is a very enjoyable Cd would recommend. A good CD to listen too. I enjoyed the Spanish guitar music
Published 11 days ago by anne
Brilliant work by composer Rea
Putting such passion into his musical composition, consummate instrumental-playing, graphic art and now film, too, Rea's collection blew my mind. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. P. J. Howes
Top Singer and Musician
Bought this for my Brother for Xmas and not being a Blues fan was not really interested. However, after my Brother one day insisted on me having a 'listen' I have to say he puts... Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. Tonks
OUTSTANDING!!!!
MARVEL AT THE MUSICIANSHIP OF ONE OF THE GREAT GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME. LOVE RELAXING TO THIS MOODY BLUSEY COMBINATION.
Published 3 months ago by Gerinmo
Chris Rea Santo Spiritu
Absolutely brilliant value for money with five discs in this music and film set. Love him or hate him, he has excelled himself with this offering. 5 star.
Published 3 months ago by grounddog100
Cd's good, forget the DVD's
I found the main CD great, easy listening and good quality. Some of the tracks on the 'soundtrack' cd's are also good. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rodinthedales
Chris Rea Santo Spirito Blues
I was bought this as a birthday present as I am a big fan of Chris Rea, I have seen him twice in concert. Read more
Published 4 months ago by P. Wood
Very good, but ....
... the weak stomached maybe shouldn't watch the bullfight video - as you've been warned before, though the soundtrack itself is most enjoyable. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Al C
hire a drummer!
escellent package - the only fault being that all instruments and music is by Chris Rea, so a drum machine is his backing which is, after a few songs, quite monotonous - think... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. G. S. Broughton
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