Tweet

Album Details

• Artist: North Mississippi Allstars
• Album: Polaris
• Label: Tone Cool / ATO
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-10-22

The Dickinson brothers along with bassist Chris Chew in tow have already had quite a big career with two very impressive albums out. Polaris marks a bit of a change for the North Mississippi Allstars though. This album is a lot more in the pop/rock territory than the RL Burnside blues that their previous albums were. There are still plenty of blues licks on the album but in theory Polaris is more of a rock album than a blues album. Their previous two albums were recorded in Coldwater, MS but they decided to record Polaris right where they grew up, Ardent Studios in Memphis. The Dickinson brothers used to watch their father, the legendary Jim Dickinson, record at this studio so they wanted their best album to be recorded here. One of the coolest blues tracks on the album has to be "Never In All My Days", and "Meet Me In The City" has a bit of the Allman Brothers Band feel to it. The opener track, "Eyes", is a step in the right direction but unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't stand up to it. Polaris ends up being a little lackluster in places like "One To Grow On". I think the problem with Polaris is that the North Mississippi Allstars stretched out a little too thin. They do the blues thing good and they need to stick to that instead of reaching all over the place. Let's see where they go from here.

User Reviews and Comments

Log In or Register to Rate Albums