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Steal My Mind – JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN III




Although I consider myself a big GOLDEN BOYS fan, I was really dissapointed by ‘Cash Flow’ John Wesley Coleman’s debut album from 2005. I wonder if anyone was interested in such a god-awful mishmash of poor songwriting and annoying experiments. Needless to say, I wasn’t really looking forward to Coleman’s second solo album but I am completely amazed at how good it turned out to be! The songwriting is really excellent this time and there are no irritating intermezzo’s. The first two songs have very repetitive lyrics but they just sound wonderful: good hooks and a great sound! Warren Zevons’ “Lawyers Guns & Money” sounds like a forgotten Crazy Horse gem and with songs like “Donkey Song”, Coleman proofs he’s one of the most interesting songwriters these days. It’s hard to pick highlights because there really aren’t any weak songs on ‘Steal My Mind’. When you flip over the record, you think it will all go downhill after so many great tunes but the opening song “Threw It Away” makes you realize that 'Steal My Mind' is a genuine masterpiece! The sleeve says that the record was recorded in the summer of 2009: “10 hours, eleven songs, 2 bottles of Bullet Bourbon, 100 beers, a carton of smokes, marijuana & stuff and Chinese food and good friends altogether to make this live shit!!!”. I am glad someone released this session because you can feel that there was magic in the air. Shoot me, call me a fanatic or whatever, but I think this is a perfect five star record! Essential!!!