San Francisco songwriter/guitar slinger CHUCK PROPHET has made a big deal about having recorded his latest album ¡Let Freedom Ring! in Mexico City. To my ears, though, the only influence the studio locale had on this record is the upside-down exclamation point in the title. Fortunately, Prophet makes up for missed opportunities by simply providing what he’s always been good at: smartly-written, straightforward guitar rock. Indeed, ¡Let Freedom Ring! is his most stripped-down record in several years – no electronic soul grooves, few extraneous instruments or keys. Fine tunes like the rocking title track, the wry “Hot Talk” and the soulful “You and Me Baby (Holding On)” and “Leave the Window Open” are built on a base of two guitars/bass/drums, with Prophet’s dry vocals comfortably settled on top. So while I’m vaguely disappointed that the album isn’t the rock/_corrido_ fusion for which we might have hoped (well, some of us, anyway), I’ll settle for it being what it is: a damn fine rock & roll record.
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