Welcome

1	Green Light Girl / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 3:09
2	Problem Child / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 5:52
3	So You Want It to Rain / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 5:18
4	Life / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 5:29
5	Helpless Man / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 4:17
6	Soul Shaker / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 4:05
7	Send Some Love / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 4:52
8	Smokestack / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 7:04
9	Last Night / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 6:35
10	Blame / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 4:55
11	Thin Dream / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 8:38
12	Cry / Doyle Bramhall & Smokestack II 8:08

Barnes & Noble

This guitarist has slogged it out in a slew of Texas-bred blues-rock outfits (including the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Arc Angels) and has been praised to high heaven by no less an authority as Eric Clapton -- who chose him as a six-string foil on what's rumored to be Slowhand's last tour ever. But there's always been some question as to whether Doyle Bramhall was possessed with the kind of "X" factor needed to carry the load on his own -- a query this disc answers with a resounding "yessiree." While certainly rooted in the Texas blues, as evidenced by the arcing, high-lonesome tones of expansive tunes like "Cry," Bramhall and his bandmates in Smokestack festoon their tunes with swatches of classic rock redolent of the heady days of Cream and Band of Gypsies. A rich wash of keyboards, courtesy of Benmont Tench (best known for his work with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers), sloughs over a handful of the album's tunes, but at its core, Welcome is a pure guitar throwdown. Hard-charging songs like "Green Light Girl" and "Smokestack" rumble along, driven by Bramhall's lyrical riffing and the deft percussion work of J.J. Johnson. Like a hill-country road, the disc goes through patches both smooth and rough. But as the title implies, there's always something welcoming along the way. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Welcome, Doyle Bramhall's third effort, continues to blur the lines between rock and blues, but he doesn't always achieve success with this tactic. Although the album opens with "Green Light Girl," a frenetic tune with lots of rockin', driving guitar riffs, the majority of the songs veer toward blues, albeit unconvincingly. "Send Some Love," an aching ballad, calls for emotion-drenched crooning, but Bramhall's vocals are a tad too cool, and "Thin Dream" attempts at bluesy stylings but is really a rock power ballad. The last cut, "Cry," finally whips up some emotion from Bramhall, but it should have been spread throughout Welcome. Even contemporary blues needs a little grit. Rosalind Cummings-Yeates