So, It's Like That

Last updated
So, It's Like That
Joe Bonamassa So, It's Like That.jpg
Studio album by
Joe Bonamassa
ReleasedAugust 13, 2002 (2002-08-13)
Recorded2002 (2002)
Studio
Genre Blues rock
Length61:54
Label Medalist
Producer
Joe Bonamassa chronology
A New Day Yesterday
(2000)		So, It's Like That
(2002)		 Blues Deluxe
(2003)
Singles from So, It's Like That
  1. "Unbroken"
    Released: 2002 (2002)

So, It's Like That is the second studio album by American blues-rock musician Joe Bonamassa. Recorded largely at Harddrive Recording Studio in North Hollywood, California and Blue Iron Gate Studio in Santa Monica, California, it was primarily produced by Clif Magness, with additional production by Dave Bassett, Matt Chiaravalle and Richard Feldman. The album was released on August 13, 2002 by Medalist Entertainment and topped the US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart.

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format widely used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Joe Bonamassa American musician

Joe Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.

North Hollywood, Los Angeles Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States of America

North Hollywood is a neighborhood in the east San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles. It is home to the NoHo Arts District and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and it has seven public and eight private schools. There is a municipal park and a recreation center. The neighborhood is an important transportation center.

Contents

Contrary to Bonamassa's 2000 debut album A New Day Yesterday , which featured a mix of original songs and cover versions, So, It's Like That is made up almost entirely of tracks written by Bonamassa and a range of collaborators. The album is the first to feature bassist Eric Czar and drummer Kenny Kramme, with producer Magness performing organ, piano and percussion. Media response to So, It's Like That was mixed, with some commentators criticising Bonamassa's songwriting.

<i>A New Day Yesterday</i> (Joe Bonamassa album) 2000 studio album by Joe Bonamassa

A New Day Yesterday is the debut studio album by American blues rock musician Joe Bonamassa. Recorded at Pyramid Recording Studios in Ithaca, New York, it was produced by Tom Dowd and released on October 24, 2000 by independent record label Okeh in tandem with Epic Records and 550 Music. The album registered at number 9 on the US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart and spawned the singles "Miss You, Hate You" in 2001 and "Colour and the Shape" in 2002.

Cover version later version of a song already established with a different earlier performer

In popular music, a cover version, cover song, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by someone other than the original artist or composer of a previously recorded, commercially released song.

Background and release

Recording for Joe Bonamassa's second studio album began at Harddrive Recording Studio in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, before vocals, additional guitars and keyboards were recorded at Blue Iron Gate Studio in Santa Monica, California; "No Slack" was recorded at Spike Recording Studio in New York City, New York. [1] Production was handled primarily by Clif Magness, with Dave Bassett producing "Under the Radar" and "The Hard Way", Matt Chiaravalle producing "No Slack", and Richard Feldman producing "Mother Love". [1] The album is Bonamassa's first to feature entirely original songs and no cover versions: [2] with the exception of "Unbroken", which was written by Annie Roboff and Holly Lamar, all tracks were written by Bonamassa, with co-writers including Mark "Diesel" Lizotte, Mike Himelstein and Will Jennings. [1]

Santa Monica, California City in California

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is bordered on three sides by the city of Los Angeles – Pacific Palisades to the north, Brentwood on the northeast, West Los Angeles on the east, Mar Vista on the southeast, and Venice on the south. The Census Bureau population for Santa Monica in 2010 was 89,736.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 19,979,477 people in its 2018 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 22,679,948 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

New York (state) State of the United States of America

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. In order to distinguish the state from the city with the same name, it is sometimes referred to as New York State.

So, It's Like That is also Bonamassa's first album to feature bassist Eric Czar and drummer Kenny Kramme, [2] both of whom would remain members of the guitarist and vocalist's backing band for 2003's Blues Deluxe and 2004's Had to Cry Today . [3] [4] The album was initially released on August 13, 2002 by Medalist Entertainment, with reissues following in 2005 from Provogue Records and 2009 from J&R Adventures. [5] The first 25,000 copies of the album were packaged with a two-hour DVD containing footage from Bonamassa's 2001 concert tour in promotion of his debut album A New Day Yesterday , [6] which was later issued separately as A New Day Yesterday Live . [1]

<i>Blues Deluxe</i> 2003 studio album by Joe Bonamassa

Blues Deluxe is the third studio album by American blues-rock musician Joe Bonamassa. Recorded at Unique Recording Studios in New York City, New York, it was produced by Bob Held and features nine cover versions of songs by classic blues artists and three original tracks. The album was released on August 26, 2003 by Medalist Entertainment and reached number 8 on the US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart.

<i>Had to Cry Today</i> (album) 2004 studio album by Joe Bonamassa

Had to Cry Today is the fourth studio album by American blues rock musician Joe Bonamassa. Produced by Bob Held, it was released on August 24, 2004 by J&R Adventures and reached number five on the US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. The title of the album is a reference to the song of the same name by English blues rock band Blind Faith from their 1969 self-titled album.

Provogue Records

Provogue Records is a European record label and part of the Mascot Label Group. Founded by Jan Van Der Linden in the early 1990s, the label specializes in rock and blues. Its catalog includes Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Eric Johnson, Robert Cray, Gov't Mule, Philip Sayce, and Warren Haynes.

Reception

Commercial

So, It's Like That debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart in the week of August 31, 2002, [7] just two years after Bonamassa's debut album A New Day Yesterday had debuted at number 9. [8] The album was Bonamassa's first to top the chart when it reached number 1 later, during run spanning a total of 30 weeks. [9]

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in Billboard magazine. Billboard biz, the online extension of the Billboard charts, provides additional weekly charts. There are also Year End charts. The charts may be dedicated to specific genre such as R&B, country or rock, or they may cover all genres. The charts can be ranked according to sales, streams or airplay, and for main song charts such as the Hot 100 song chart, all three pools of data are used to compile the charts. For the Billboard 200 album chart, streams and track sales are included in addition to album sales.

Critical

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Billboard Favorable [6]
Guitar World Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Miami New Times Favorable [13]

Media response to So, It's Like That was mixed. Guitar World magazine awarded the album four out of five stars, with writer Ted Drozdowski describing it as "breathless" and praising Bonamassa's "strong musical personality" and vocal and guitar performances on the album. [12] Billboard magazine's Chuck Taylor praised the album for its range of musical styles, including "down and dirty ... Southern rock paeans" such as "Lie #1" and "Sick in Love", and "melodic triumphs" such as "My Mistake" and "Unbroken". [6] Taylor highlighted Bonamassa's "grimacing lead guitar" and "gruff vocals" throughout the release, concluding that "This is no regular Joe." [6] Miami New Times writer Shawn Bean praised the album's optimistic take on the blues as being "closer to daybreak than midnight in its shade of blue". [13]

<i>Guitar World</i> magazine

Guitar World is an American monthly music magazine for guitarists, published since July 1980. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews, and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year. Formerly owned by Harris Publications, Future US bought the magazine in 2003. In 2012, NewBay Media bought the Music division of Future US. The latter company also published a spin-off title, Guitar Legends, each issue of which typically combined past articles from Guitar World under a specific theme. The first Guitar Legends was on Eddie Van Halen. In 2018, Future acquired NewBay Media, returning Guitar World to Future US.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals. Although the origin of the term Southern rock is unknown, "many people feel that these important contributors to the development of rock and roll have been minimized in rock's history."

AllMusic's Jesse Jarnow was less positive, damning Bonamassa's songwriting and claiming that the album is "filled with subpar tunes bloated with clichés". [10] Jarnow also criticised the performance of Bonamassa's backing band members, which he dubbed "far too generic", and claimed that "Pain and Sorrow" is "the only thing that clearly separates Bonamassa from generic boorishness". [10] Reviewing the album for The Austin Chronicle , Maragaret Moser was also critical of So, It's Like That, describing many of its songs as "solid but undistinguished", although praised Bonamassa as "a more than adept multi-instrumentalist" and offered him "extra credit for the heartfelt effort". [11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."My Mistake"
4:53
2."Lie #1"
  • Bonamassa
  • Mike Himelstein
4:22
3."No Slack"
  • Bonamassa
  • Lizotte
5:05
4."Unbroken"
3:48
5."So, It's Like That"
  • Bonamassa
  • Himelstein
2:49
6."Waiting for Me"
3:53
7."Never Say Goodbye"
  • Bonamassa
  • Curt Schneider
3:32
8."Mountain Time"
3:41
9."Pain and Sorrow"
  • Bonamassa
  • Feldman
  • Pressly
10:36
10."Takin' the Hit"
  • Bonamassa
  • Himelstein
4:43
11."Under the Radar"
3:20
12."Sick in Love"
  • Bonamassa
  • Himelstein
3:24
13."The Hard Way"
  • Hidden track: "Mother Love"
  • Bonamassa
  • Bassett
  • Bonamassa
  • Feldman
7:48
Total length:61:54

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2002)Peak
position
US Top Blues Albums ( Billboard ) [9] 1

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 So, It's Like That (Media notes). Joe Bonamassa. Medalist Entertainment. 2002. Retrieved October 2, 2017.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. 1 2 "Bona blast from the past: "So, It's Like That"". Joe Bonamassa. 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  3. ↑ Blues Deluxe (Media notes). Joe Bonamassa. Medalist Entertainment. 2003. Retrieved October 2, 2017.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ↑ "Had to Cry Today - Joe Bonamassa: Credits". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  5. ↑ "So, It's Like That - Joe Bonamassa: Releases". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Taylor, Chuck (August 10, 2002). "Joe Bonamassa: So, It's Like That" (Scan). Billboard . Vol. 114 no. 32. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications. p. 19. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Top Blues Albums Chart: The Week of August 31, 2002". Billboard . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Top Blues Albums Chart: The Week of August 17, 2002". Billboard . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Blues Albums: Joe Bonamassa Chart History". Billboard . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Jarnow, Jesse. "So, It's Like That - Joe Bonamassa: Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Moser, Margaret (September 20, 2002). "Review: Joe Bonamassa". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Drozdowski, Ted (October 2002). "Record Reviews: Editors' Picks" (PDF). Guitar World . New York City, New York: Harris Publications. p. 38. Archived from the original on August 11, 2003. Retrieved October 6, 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  13. 1 2 Bean, Shawn (August 22, 2002). "Joe Bonamassa: So, It's Like That "Medalist Records"". Miami New Times . New Times Media. Archived from the original on August 23, 2004. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
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