Delta Deep Self-Titled Debut Underground Examinations Music Review

Some musicians can not seem to slow down, Phil Collen, guitarist of Def Leppard is one of them. Despite an operation on his left hand and being in his late 50’s, Collen has herded together a side project of epic proportions. With a multitude of guest appearances, the new band, Delta Deep, have a self-titled debut album which will feature original tracks as well as a few covers.

The project came together through family jam sessions, as Debbi Blackwell-Cook is the godmother of Phil Collen’s wife, Helen Collen. Over time, a few more musicians joined including Forrest Robinson on drums and Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) on bass. A few of the guest appearances on Delta Deep include Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols, Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, and David Coverdale of Whitesnake.

Officially released June 23, 2015, Delta Deep’s self-titled debut album has 11 tracks. Because of the different musical genres being utilized, Delta Deep has a very large audience base. The album starts off with energetic guitar and pounding drums in, ‘Bang the Lid.’ Right after that, ‘Whisky’ slows things down to a comfortable bluesy crawl. ‘Down In The Delta’ is the third track and it starts off hard, harnessing the focus of old heavy metal guitar chords.

Halfway through the album ‘Burnt Sally’ brings it back to blues and does it well across their array of instruments. ‘Private Number’ keeps the blues guitar around but replaces the vocals with a more smooth R&B style sweetness, even the guitar solo trends lightly. When the album finally comes to a close it does so with the track ‘Mistreated’ which has it all: killer guitar, moving male and female vocals, and a tantalizing atmosphere that is equal parts blues, jazz, and funk. The eight minute track can be found via the soundcloud link, along with ‘Private Number’ and ‘Down In The Delta.’

Even though Delta Deep sounds very separate from Def Leppard, the similarities in guitar can be heard in a few songs, ‘Shuffle Sweet’ being one of them. That goes to show how many different styles are incorporated in the album. The group utilizes blues guitar in music that is not necessarily blues, as well as blues vocals with tracks where the rest of the band are not necessarily playing blues, but when they all decide to play the blues the result is something Muddy Waters would tip his hat at.

Truly, Delta Deep blends multiple different musical styles with well-timed cooperation to craft a powerful atmosphere. After so many years it is surprising to see such an old icon create something so authentic and appealing to so many different types of music fans. Their self-titled album, Delta Deep is now available. Hopefully the band keeps playing around with musical genres so skillfully, a second album would be happily appreciated.

Underground Examinations is a series of Independent Music Reviews with the intention of giving new music a fair and appropriate opportunity to be enjoyed.

By Garrett Jutte
Sources:
Delta Deep
Soundcloud
Ultimate Classic Rock