Corey Stevens: Road To Zen

On Road To Zen (Eureka/Discovery 77061; 46:56) guitarist-vocalist Corey Stevens plays well and sings like Eric Clapton, which ain’t bad. Better than most blues pretenders but still anemic by Howlin’ Wolf standards. Stevens’ L.A. rock influence comes through on most of this rock-blues outing, particularly on poppy material like “Only One For You,” “One More Time” and “Take It Back.” He affects a crystalline Mark Knopfler-Dire Straits sound on the title track, then goes for the throat with raucous grunge tone abandon on “Charles Bronson Vibe,” a song in praise of vigilantism. “Big House Blues” sounds like a Rick Derringer rip off while his straightforward slow blues on “Blues Are Here To Stay” owes a debt to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevens plays it nasty on the Stones-ish blues-rocker “My Neighborhood” and he breaks out the wicked Jimi-SRV wah-wah licks on the organ-driven “Too Much Fun?” Mildly engaging with some nice Strat work, but nothing all that deep here.

Originally Published September 1, 1997