Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Released five years after his last effort (an eternity for the prolific Irish blues guitar slinger who had been churning out at least an album a year throughout the '70s), Defender is another quality blues-rock offering. Although Gallagher is in fine tough form here and it was his debut release for his own indie label, there is little difference between this and some of his less stellar '70s albums like Top Priority and Photo-Finish. The pounding, guitar-heavy opener "Kickback City" sounds more like hairy rockers Bad Company than anything approaching the deep Chicago and country blues Gallagher dearly loved. The quality picks up substantially as the volume subsides on "Loanshark Blues," but by-the-books crunch-rockers like "Failsafe Day" and the unfortunately titled "Road to Hell" don't bode well for Gallagher moving out from an increasingly formulaic pigeonhole. There are a few corkers here like "Continental Op," a blazing riff that stands with Gallagher's best work and revisits his familiar cloak-and-dagger theme. The swampy, less abrasive "I Ain't No Saint" also pushes the quality up a few notches, as does his gritty version of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me to Talking," the bluesiest song on the disc and one of the few times he pulls out his greasy slide. "Seven Days" is the lone acoustic track and it's a good one, with piano and harp accompaniment and Gallagher singing like he means it as he takes the part of a criminal fleeing from the electric chair. The 2000 reissue adds a pair of rugged bonus tracks (along with a cleaner sound mix), which are actually better, or certainly as good as the best cuts on the rest of this competent but hardly essential Rory Gallagher disc.
© Hal Horowitz /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From 12,49€/month
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Wortham, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Wortham, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bob Andrews, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Mark Feltham, Harmonica, AssociatedPerformer - Sonny Boy Williamson II, ComposerLyricist - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Matt Wortham, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Lou Martin, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Rory Gallagher, Producer, Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Andy Pearce, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gerry McAvoy, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - John Cooke, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Alan O'Duffy, Producer, Associate Producer - Brendan O'Neil, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Daniel Gallagher, Producer, Executive Producer
℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Albumbeschreibung
Released five years after his last effort (an eternity for the prolific Irish blues guitar slinger who had been churning out at least an album a year throughout the '70s), Defender is another quality blues-rock offering. Although Gallagher is in fine tough form here and it was his debut release for his own indie label, there is little difference between this and some of his less stellar '70s albums like Top Priority and Photo-Finish. The pounding, guitar-heavy opener "Kickback City" sounds more like hairy rockers Bad Company than anything approaching the deep Chicago and country blues Gallagher dearly loved. The quality picks up substantially as the volume subsides on "Loanshark Blues," but by-the-books crunch-rockers like "Failsafe Day" and the unfortunately titled "Road to Hell" don't bode well for Gallagher moving out from an increasingly formulaic pigeonhole. There are a few corkers here like "Continental Op," a blazing riff that stands with Gallagher's best work and revisits his familiar cloak-and-dagger theme. The swampy, less abrasive "I Ain't No Saint" also pushes the quality up a few notches, as does his gritty version of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me to Talking," the bluesiest song on the disc and one of the few times he pulls out his greasy slide. "Seven Days" is the lone acoustic track and it's a good one, with piano and harp accompaniment and Gallagher singing like he means it as he takes the part of a criminal fleeing from the electric chair. The 2000 reissue adds a pair of rugged bonus tracks (along with a cleaner sound mix), which are actually better, or certainly as good as the best cuts on the rest of this competent but hardly essential Rory Gallagher disc.
© Hal Horowitz /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:55:53
- Main artists: Rory Gallagher
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: UMC (Universal Music Catalogue)
- Genre: Blues/country/folk Blues
© 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited ℗ 2018 Universal Music Operations Limited
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.