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Review: JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, 'Unvarnished'
from: journalstar.com
by L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, "Unvarnished." JOAN JETT has crafted another rock 'n' roll gem with "Unvarnished," her 13th album and first since 2006's "SINNER."
Produced by Jett and her producer/manager/co-writer KENNY LAGUNA and co-written with the rest of her band, the BLACKHEARTS, "Unvarnished" is personal, topical and filled with the crunchy guitars and backbeat- anchored rhythms that have anchored Jett's music since the RUNAWAYS in the 1970s.
There even are some strings and woodwinds, rarely associated with Jett's brand of rock 'n' roll.
But they fit perfectly, setting the mood for the soaring concluding ballad "Everybody Needs a Hero" and the delicate "Fragile."
That is one of two songs in which Jett addresses the death of her parents, especially her mother. "I wake up feeling crazy, keep losing people, just lost my mom/ So difficult to fathom that they're gone," the 55-year-old Jett sings on the anthem "Hard to Grow Up."
Other songs address relationships dissolving, the throbbing "Soulmate to Stranger," and forming, the churning "Bad as We Can Be."
As she did addressing the Iraq War on "SINNER," Jett brings out a biting social critique, taking on the indignity of ignorantly revealing texts and tweets on the slamming "TMI" and breaking out the wah-wah guitar to savage "Reality Mentality," singing "Wanna be a star, well just lower the bar/Humiliation becomes routine, watch it playing out on your TV screen."
Jett's raspy vocals are in fine form here -- especially when the record is cranked up loud, as it should be. This is, after all, rock 'n' roll from its finest living practitioner.
Also of note, "Unvarnished" has the coolest packaging of the year -- a depiction of Jett by Shepard Fairey, the artist who did the "Obama/Hope" image that will look great on the vinyl album. Grade: A
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