When you cut your teeth as the rhythm guitarist and chief songwriter for a band that's sold millions of records, been around the world and back numerous times, and bickered with your lead-singer brother enough to confidently share a tour dubbed Brotherly Love with Oasis, bringing things back to a normal level might seem to be quite difficult. But such is not the case for Rich Robinson, one half of the Robinson brothers who formed the on hiatus Black Crowes 20 years ago.

With brother Chris off on his own and the Crowes on hiatus, Rich began concentrating on new musical projects. He was linked to Royston Langdon of Spacehog, but nothing really seemed to surface from those rumors. He then formed another band called Hookah Brown, even doing a couple of tours with that band in 2003. But Robinson abandoned the promising project last summer, stating that some band members' intentions were not about the music.

Now, fresh off month long summer residencies in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, Robinson has issued his first solo CD, dubbed Paper. A mix of songs originally debuted in Hookah Brown (Enemy, When You Will, Know Me) and fresh originals, the album's sound is more identifiable with the first three Black Crowes albums, rather than the latter three. This means this may be the first Black Crowes related album that's required listening for fans who miss the rollicking rock and roll and slick ballads that filled those first three records.

The disc starts off very strong, and while it does tend to lose steam over the second half due to drawn out jams and too many slow numbers, not to mention a sound that becomes a little too familiar by the end of the disc.

Yesterday I Saw You kicks things off in a herky jerky style that reminds one of some of the arrangements on the By Your Side record. The difference is that the guitars have a bit more bite to them, and the hook is terrific. Add in a nice and compact solo by Rich, and the song is a terrific pleasure to listen to.

The rocking tone developed on Yesterday continues with Enemy, a chugging bit of smooth guitar bites and deft work from both Rich on bass and his session drummer, Joe Magistro. Robinson goes for a trippier type of sound on Leave It Alone, but it works pretty well, even if it doesn't rock as hard as the album's opening duo.

As mentioned above, the amount of ballads on this disc seriously saps the energy of the disc, especially over the last half. But that's not to say Rich didn't write any worthy ballads, for he surely did. Chief among them is When You Will, which has a really pretty melody that puts a smile on my face everytime I hear it. Add in Rich's soulful and passionate vocals, and it adds up to the biggest winner in terms of a ballad by a mile. Another great ballad that archs more towards a mid-tempo pace is Begin, which besides featuring some swooning guitar work from Rich, also features former Crowes keyboardist Ed Harsch throwing in some nice bits of piano melody.

Other songs worth checking out and placing on "repeat" include the blasting bluesy rocker Know Me, and the album closing It's Over.

For those wondering how Robinson sounds, he is similar vocally to his brother. What he lacks in range when compared to Chris, however, is made up for in the smooth delivery. For those of you who have heard Rich's vocal turn on How Much For Your Wings? from the 3 Snakes record, I'd say his voice sound similar to that, just fuller.

The album isn't perfect though; the songs tend to have the same sonic tone to them, so they can begin to blend together a bit too much for my liking. And the stretch from the aforementioned Begin and extending to Answers can be extremely boring and yawn inducing at times.

With that being said, I'm very surprised at how much I like this disc. The stronger half is definitely the first half, but the second half has some gems as well. As I said before, if you are mostly a fan of the first three Black Crowes albums, I really think you'd like an awful lot of this record.

And for those of you waiting on a Crowes reunion? That may just happen soon, given Chris and Rich's meetings with their old manager Pete Angelus.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 (because it just isn't a 3 star album)

Related Reviews:
Chris Robinson Solo Discs:
New Earth Mud
This Magnificent Distance

Black Crowes Reviews:
Shake Your Money Maker
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
Amorica
Three Snakes and One Charm
By Your Side
Lions
Live in Boston 10/30/01
Live in Boston 10/31/01
Live (CD)
A Tribute to a Work in Progress, Greatest Hits 1990-1999



Recommended: Yes