My first impression of Mike Zito was one of complete satisfaction and joy internalized after listening to every track on his new release Today. Those feelings were only amplified with each subsequent listen. His album is a gritty down to earth performance with razor sharp guitar lines and vocals that not only come from the heart but from deep down in the man’s soul.

Zito looks very intense on the cover and when you give the CD a spin, you find where that intensity is coming from; you can see it in his eyes and feel it all over his music.

Zito gets your attention and hangs on from start to finish on the album and some of the industries veterans like Benmont Tench (keyboards) and Hutch Hutchinson (bass) are right there beside him every step of the way.

Every track crackles with energy and hot-blooded emotion and Zito’s voice has just the right gravely tone to make it all sound like blues-rock should. An interesting version of the Prince hit “Little Red Corvette” makes you put on the brakes for a while but if you listen a few times, you can tell that he did his best to make the song his own and not imitate the originator in any way. Because of that, I respected Zito and he does do a nice job with it even if it sounds like an entirely different song.

The songs that come at you drenched in emotional sweat are “Holding Out For Love,” “Deep Down In Love” and the lead off smoker, “Love Like This.” Every track has the word love in the title and they all burn with the fire that only relationships can fuel comes as no surprise.

Zito has a commanding vocal style and he plays his guitar as if it was a weapon, some kind of sharp shooting messenger that fires at will with each note. He is clearly an accomplished musician that has finely honed his voice to play out the words to each song as if he is living it all right before you. This is blues-rock at its finest and no doubt one of Mike Zito’s best hours.

Artist: Mike Zito
Title: Today
Genre: Blues-Rock
Label: Eclecto Groove Records
Website
ECard

Tracks:
01. Love Like This
02. Superman
03. Holding Out For Love
04. Little Red Corvette
05. Universe
06. Blinded
07. Slow It Down
08. Today
09. No Big City
10. Deep Down In Love
11. Dirty Things
12. Hollywood
13. Time To Go Home

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Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck