Artist: Robin Trower

Album: The Playful Heart

Label: V12

Chances are, you know Robin Trower's work, even if the name doesn't ring any bells.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" - recorded in 1967 when Trower was part of Procol Harum - was named #57 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. Even if that song is over 30 years old, Trower has been recording steadily since, and releases The Playful Heart, a vintage-sounding record, which follows Trower's traditional power trio formula of guitar, bass, and drums.

Trower's voice - he sings on six of the album's 11 tracks - is understated and a cool shade of mellow, uncannily resembling Eric Clapton's. So there are moments on Heart where you'd swear you're listening to Cream, and others with echoes of Pink Floyd and Steve Miller Band. Album opener "The Playful Heart" might be the strongest track, opening on a Led Zeppelin-style strummed electric, which provides the rhythmic bed for the song. I'm not sure what the line "The world could not fulfill the playful heart" exactly means, but that's the hook and Trower's sticking to it.

"The Turning" establishes a solid rhythmic lick before bass and drums kick in to give the song a driving edge. Halfway through the song, things slow down and Trower delivers a plaintive solo. Cue the lighters. "Find Me" also contains a brilliant solo with a little more muscle at its tail end. Much of the album runs along these lines. Trower and his band Glenn Letsch and Pete Thompson (Davey Pattison contributes vocals on half the tracks) modernize the sound only slightly, with "Song for Those Who Fell" and "Not Inside-Outside" shuffling along with drums that sound more than a little like loops. 

The lyrics to Heart befit its classic rock vibe. Tracks like "Dressed in Gold" and "Not Inside - Outside" are awash in symbolism of "turquoise skies," and "the darkest dark." Otherwise, they're generally neither poetic or memorable, seemingly filled in to make songs out of grooves. But that's not the point here. Heart succeeds with Trower's muscular licks and its overall energy, probably because it wasn't recorded piece by piece, an approach that could be considered prehistoric in today's overdub-ridden industry.

Still, much like fellow ax-slinger Phil Keaggy, Trower is to be commended for keeping it real, even if the album doesn't offer anything particularly innovative. Damning with faint praise? Hardly.

*This Review First Published 12/20/2010