The Way It Is | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 1999 | |||
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Length | 60:45 | |||
Label | SPV (Europe) Nippon Crown (Japan) Shrapnel (US) | |||
Producer | Glenn Hughes Michael Scott | |||
Glenn Hughes chronology | ||||
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Alternative Cover | ||||
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AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Way It Is is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1999 on Nippon Crown, SPV and Shrapnel Records and was Hughes’ sixth solo studio album.
While Hughes' previous album, 1996's Addiction , had a serious, quite dramatic and heavy sound with songs that focused on the turmoil in his life, its follow-up, The Way It Is, has a distinctly lighter tone.[ citation needed ] The metal edge of Addiction was replaced with funk-infused one. However, unlike 1995's Feel , which had definite funk, pop and soul sounds, The Way It Is keeps the hard rock Hughes is best known for.
This was Hughes' second album to feature long-time guitarist Jocke 'JJ' Marsh; the two of them worked closely on the album, locking themselves away in Hughes' Los Angeles home in November 1998. The album also features two songs co-written with funk guitarist Stevie Salas and performed by Hughes, Salas and former Guns N' Roses, now Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum. The three of them had originally planned to put an album together, but this did not appear. "You Kill Me" and "Second Son" are the only tracks by the three of them to be released. [2]
Other musicians on the album include guitarist-keyboardist Marc Bonilla, who worked closely with Hughes on Addiction, but has a lesser role on this album. Keith Emerson provides organ parts on two songs and Hughes' usual drummer of the period, Gary Ferguson, performs on all the non-Salas/Sorum numbers.
A cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Freedom" (originally from The Cry of Love ) is featured on the album and an additional remix of the song appears at the end of the record, although it is not listed on the album sleeve-notes.
Special guests:
Glenn Hughes is an English bassist and singer, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in funk rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Stevie Salas is a Native American guitarist, author, television host, music director, record producer, film composer, and former advisor of contemporary music at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer stating that their music "spark[ed] the musical transition from fifties rock and roll to sixties funk."
Feel is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1995 on Zero Corporation and SPV records and was Hughes' fourth solo studio album.
Addiction is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1996 on Zero Corporation, SPV and Shrapnel records and was Hughes’ fifth solo studio album.
Talk About It EP is an EP by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1997 on SPV and was taken from the album Addiction. It includes three previously unreleased live tracks.
From The Archives Volume I – Incense & Peaches is a compilation album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. The songs were recorded in various sessions between 1995 and 1998. It was released in 2000 on Hughes’ own Pink Cloud Records.
Return of Crystal Karma (often abbreviated to R.O.C.K.) is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released 19 of June 2000 on SPV and Nippon records.
Building the Machine is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his eighth solo studio album and was released in 2001 on SPV, DNA and Nippon Crown records.
Songs in the Key of Rock is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his ninth solo studio album and was released in 2003 on Frontier and Pony Canyon records.
Soul Mover is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his tenth solo studio album and was released in 2005 on Frontier, Sanctuary, EMI and Yamaha records.
Music for the Divine is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his eleventh solo studio album and was released in 2006 on Frontier, Demolition, Sony BMG and Yamaha records.
Hughes/ Thrall was a musical project formed in 1982 by former Deep Purple and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Pat Thrall.
Marc Bonilla is an American guitarist and composer. He has worked with Keith Emerson, Ronnie Montrose, Glenn Hughes, David Coverdale and Kevin Gilbert. He also appears on the Emerson, Lake & Palmer tribute album Encores, Legends & Paradox and a spoken word album with comedian Bobby Gaylor for Atlantic entitled "Fuzzatonic Scream" including the controversial single, "Suicide" in 1998, toured with Edgar Winter, and produced the recent DVD release "The Official Keith Emerson Tribute Concert".
Hughes/Thrall is the self-titled, debut album by musical collaborators Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall. It was released in 1982 on Boulevard Records and is, to date, their only album. The single "Beg, Borrow Or Steal" peaked at #79 in the US in early 1983.
Hughes Turner Project (HTP) was a musical project formed in the 2001 by bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. They released two albums, a live album and one joint project with Mikhail Men.
HTP is the debut album by Hughes Turner Project, a musical collaborators Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner ; it was released on 6 February 2002 on MTM Music and Pony Canyon Records.
HTP 2 is the second album by the Hughes Turner Project, a collaboration between Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner ; it was released in 2003 on MTM Music and Pony Canyon Records.
Different Stages – The Best of Glenn Hughes is a compilation album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released in 2002 on SPV records.
First Underground Nuclear Kitchen is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It is his twelfth solo studio album and was released in 2008 on Frontiers Records.