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Blak and Blu

Gary Clark Jr.

Blak and Blu

Major label debut from the much-hyped 28-year-old Texas-based blues guitarist and R&B singer-songwriter, touted by many as the new Hendrix

ADM rating[?]

6.6

Label
Warner
UK Release date
04/02/2013
US Release date
22/10/2012
  1. 8.0 |   All Music

    If his songwriting is a bit uneven, he has an inarguable talent with both lyrics and melodies, and he's a good-to-great singer, sounding soulful and honest on every cut
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  2. 8.0 |   Spin

    A mixed bag of eclectic overachievement, boasting a huge stylistic range that, while loaded with flashes of brilliance, might sound better parceled out in pieces than consumed as a whole
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  3. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    A particularly modern artisan, he recognises the need to diversify, so while blues remains his core skill, he's also fluent in neo-soul, R&B and psychedelia
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  4. 8.0 |   Uncut

    A fresh and invigoratingly take on black music. Print edition only

  5. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Clark spreads his musical bets on Blak and Blu. Instead of having one signature sound, he tries a dozen, delving into modern R&B, retro soul, psychedelia and garage rock
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  6. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Blak & Blu certainly isn’t legendary. But it’s a pretty good start
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  7. 6.8 |   Paste Magazine

    Clark’s refusal to be pigeonholed as merely a great axman results in a diverse, sometimes confounding record that exhibits a still-evolving oeuvre while still showcasing the chops that got him to this point in his career
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  8. 6.0 |   Blurt

    Blak and Blu would better serve as a calling card had he saved some of his more abrupt directional shifts for another EP and played to his most developed strengths
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  9. 6.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    On his major label debut, Blak and Blu, Clark buckles under the pressure, resulting in 13 tracks of just good blues-rock from a man who has so much more to offer
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  10. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  11. 6.0 |   Q

    One for the future, as much as the past. Print edition only

  12. 6.0 |   BBC

    Overall, this feels more like a fragmented collection of songs than a calculated set. It’s easy to pick favourite tracks
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  13. 6.0 |   The Independent

    Large parts of Blak and Blu are spent crooning falsetto soul numbers or cranking out chunky rockers in the vein of the Stones and Bob Seger
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  14. 6.0 |   The Observer

    He's more Lenny Kravitz than Robert Cray and mercifully closer to the Black Keys than either
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  15. 6.0 |   Art Rocker

    Moments reach infectious highs that alone are striking, but in the context of the whole album feel too divergent to be effective as a unified whole
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Gary Clark Jr.: Blak and Blu

  • Download full album for just £7.49
  • 1. Ain't Messin 'Round £0.99
  • 2. When My Train Pulls In £0.99
  • 3. Blak And Blu £0.99
  • 4. Bright Lights £0.99
  • 5. Travis County £0.99
  • 6. The Life £0.99
  • 7. Glitter Ain't Gold (Jumpin' For Nothin') £0.99
  • 8. Numb £0.99
  • 9. Please Come Home £0.99
  • 10. Things Are Changin' £0.99
  • 11. Third Stone From The Sun/If You Love Me Like You Say £0.99
  • 12. You Saved Me £0.99
  • 13. Next Door Neighbor Blues £0.99
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