Songs (Click the -icons for some small realaudio-samples)
 
1. Stayin'Out
2. Walkin' down town
3. The Wrong side
4. At home last night
5. Sacred Ground
6. Thanks for the snack
7. The devil's cry
8. I'm Back
9. Tell Me
10. Well but tired
11. Watch wanna do
12. The parking rider
13. Will I ever know?
14. Don't forget me

Songs & Lyrics:
Frédéric Lani, except 5: Sonny Landreth

Musicians:
- Frédéric Lani (guitars, vocals)
- Axel Muller (drums)
- Jérome Boquet (rythm guitar)
- Papy X (bass guitar)
Guest-musicians:
- Pieter van Bogaert (organ)
- Dave Reniers (harp)
- Pascale Michiels & Chantal Willie (backing vocals)

Produced by Fred Lani & David Minjauw
Recorded in studio Dada (Brussels)

Artwork : Creation & Devotion
Photo's : Jo Clauwaert
 

My opinion:

The status that El Fish enjoys in Flanders, that of the most interesting young blues band, has been reserved in the South of the country for some years already and with as big a margin to Fred & his Healers. But where El Fish is always smuggling influences from outside into the blues repertoire, Frédéric Lani and his troup are being much more "good boys", colouring well within the lines of the blues idiom. On opening track "Stayin' Out" it goes "Old-fashioned blues, is not useless. You know we're here to stay, it's not 'cause we're grotesque. Make people feel good, don't tell them no lie. You know we're here to stay, let's have another try".
Fred is first and foremost a phenomenal blues guitarist, constantly on the lookout for a moment in each song to start freaking out over the full lenght of his guitar neck. But on this third CD Electerrified, much more work has gone into the variation and structure of the songs - there is but one cover on it - which leads them from hard boogie and rocking blues à la Johnny Winter or Rory Gallagher to sad bluespop à la Stevie Ray Vaughn. This variation is highly beneficial to the CD and as Fred rightly said in interviews promoting the album "it is varied but homogenous, with less space for "guitar heroism" ... Our playing has become more mature. We have tried to get rid of all parasites in our music, to get to the heart of it and concentrate really on composition and writing. Electerrified is our most finished album up to now."
The vocal parts are of a lesser quality, still, and they clearly demonstrate that this ain't no band of colour'd folk from the Mississippi delta playing, but white bums from somewhere just South of Brussels.
Best songs are for me "Stayin' Out", "Watcha Wanna Do", "At home last night", "Sacred Ground", the slow build-up of "The devil's cry" or the deliciously jazzy "Tell Me". But the skip-funtion has been programmed for clumsy stomping songs such as "Thanks for the Snack", "The Parking Rider" and the somewhat over-enthusiastic Status Quo-ish "Don't Forget Me".
"Electerrified" is the first album of Fred & The Healers for a major (Mercury / Universal), after both of their previous albums sold well over 5,000 copies. This has probably made them edge off a few of the more radical sides of their music, and once or twice, there's a fade-out during a solo. But all in all this is a good step for the band, I guess, which still grants Fred & The Healers room for a lot of growth.

And your opinion? Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about this cd ? Send it in ... Your name or nick Your e-mail : Your opinion:

This album in the press :

- Bart Cornand in Knack (Focus) : "Twee jaar geleden werd dit kwartet nog de hemel ingeprezen door Robert Cray, toch een man die zijn pappenheimers kent. Intussen is de band verder geëvolueerd, en met Electerrified levert de Waalse bluestrots een plaat af die haar sporen zal nalaten in het Belgische blueswereldje ... Als ze nu nog even aan het pijnlijke Engels willen werken, komt het nog allemaal goed."
- Jempi Samyn in Stage : "Dat er in dit landje een aantal talentvolle bluesmuzikanten rondlopen hoeven we jullie niet meer te vertellen. Artiesten en groepen zoals Roland, Marc Lelangue, Mambo Chillum, Tee, The Electric Kings, Theresa Malenfant, The Seatsniffers, Burning Plague ... Er schiet mij plots nog zo'n groep van bij ons te binnen, die er al bijna zeven jaar in slaagt om dat gevoel vakkundig om te zetten in een bijzonder authentiek en spontaan klinkend bluesgeluid: Fred & The Healers."
- JdN in The Ticket : "... 'Electerrified'explore les facettes d'un blues plus énergique et divertissant que révolutionnaire, habité de la fièvre des performances live qui leur ont assis une solide réputation de bêtes de scène. ... On aurait tout de même aimé plus d'impertinence et un moins grand respect des canons du genre."

Did you encounter a good (or bad) review somewhere? Send it in !
 

Where to buy this CD ?

You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on September 20, 2001, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).

Shop	Price of the CD	Shipping + other expenses	Total	Direct Link
Frontstage	719	0	719 Bef.	Frontstage
Azur	667	20	687 Bef.
Proxis	650	0	650 Bef.	Proxis
Atrecordings	--	3$	--
Netbeat	--	2,77 euro	--

The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those for customers in Belgium.

Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations : let me know.
 

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