Legendary rock guitarist Keith Richards has recently released his first solo album in over 20 years, “Crosseyed Heart’ via Republic Records. Over the years, Keith has written some of the most iconic songs in rock and roll with the Rolling Stones and his songwriting skills have only gotten better with time. For this new album, he crosses across genres giving us 15 amazing tracks with everything from driving rockers, country, the blues, and even a touch of reggae.
The record opens with the stripped down acoustic guitar and vocals of “Crosseyed Heart.” At less than 2 minutes in length, Richards closes the songs saying, “that’s all I got,” giving us that take me or leave me attitude in true Keith fashion. His riffs are impeccable on the driving rock of lead single “Trouble” and “Heartstopper” and his heartfelt country vibe on the somebody done me wrong song, “Robbed Blind,” is amazing. Keith is backed by the talented musicians of the X-Pensive Winos Band with cowriter and drummer Steve Jordan and Waddy Wachtel on guitar and even the late great Bobby Keys making a posthumous appearance on sax. Don’t miss the brilliant horns on the cover of Gregory Isaacs’s reggae classic “Love Overdue” and the beautiful duet with Norah Jones on “Something For Nothing.” As always, Richards has the tremendous ability to hold back when necessary and let the songs do their thing with the understated blues guitar of “Blues in the Morning” and the 60’a soul of “Lover’s Plea.”
After all these years, “Crosseyed Heart” is proof that Keith’s creative juices are flowing stronger than ever. This is an album for the ages and for lovers of all types of music.
