Stevie Ray Vaughan
had always been a phenomenal guitarist, but prior to
In Step
, his songwriting was hit or miss. Even when he wrote a classic modern
blues
song, it was firmly within the genre's conventions; only on
Soul to Soul
's exquisite
soul-blues
"Life Without You"
did he attempt to stretch the boundaries of the form. As it turns out, that was the keynote for
, an album where
Vaughan
found his own songwriting voice, blending
,
soul
, and
rock
in unique ways, and writing with startling emotional honesty. Yes, there are a few covers, all well chosen, but the heart of the album rests in the songs he co-wrote with
Doyle Bramhall
, the man who penned the
highlight
"Change It."
Bramhall
proved to be an ideal collaborator for
; tunes like the terse
"Tightrope"
and the dense
"Wall of Denial"
feel so intensely personal, it's hard to believe that they weren't the product of just one man. Yet the lighter numbers -- the dynamite boogie
"The House Is Rockin'"
and the breakneck
of
"Scratch-n-Sniff"
-- are just as effective as songs. Of course, he didn't need words to make effective music:
"Travis Walk"
is a blistering instrumental, complete with intricate fingerpicking reminiscent of the great
country
guitarist
Merle Travis
, while the shimmering
"Riviera Paradise"
is every bit as lyrical and lovely as his previous charmer,
"Lenny."
The magnificent thing about
is how it's fully realized, presenting every facet of
's musical personality, yet it still soars with a sense of discovery. It's a bittersweet triumph, given
's tragic death a little over a year after its release, yet it's a triumph all the same. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine