'Zygote' launches former Traveler's solo blues career

In his first solo effort (a career to run in parallel with Blues Traveler, not instead of) Popper shows off just how impressive he is as an individual, producing an album of equal, if not superior, quality to the best that Blues Traveler has to offer.

John Popper HHH

The format remains the same: a lot of acoustic guitars, typical Popper vocals, a harmonica solo in just about every song, but it feels a lot more fresh than the last Popper release, "Straight on Till Morning," with Blues Traveler.

Several songs stand out, including "Home," "How About Now," and "Lunatic." As a general trend, Popper is at his best crooning a ballad over an acoustic guitar progression, and the album does a lot to showcase that talent.

Slow, vocal driven tracks outnumber drum and guitar driven ones by a noticeable margin on this album.

In "Zygote," Popper has launched his solo career with an album that fans will want to hear. A lot of this will stem from the fact that there is very little difference between this and a Blues Traveller album, but a lot of it also stems from the fact that John Popper is an extremely talented and polished musician.

Reviewed by

Philip Maguran

For the Daily

A & M Records

Zygote

09-21-99