''Afterglow'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English-American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Black Country Communion Black Country Communion is an English-American hard rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009, the band is a supergroup composed of bassist and lead vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and second vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer J ...

. Recorded in June 2012 with regular producer

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

, the album was released by J&R Adventures and Mascot Music in October 2012.

Background

Following the release of their second album '' 2'' in 2011, Black Country Communion embarked on a promotional tour of the United States and Europe, and later released the video album '' Live Over Europe'' documenting a number of shows on the tour. In January 2012 it was reported that the band would begin work on the follow-up to ''2'' in June, with a release planned for later in the year. The writing process for the album, according to main songwriter Glenn Hughes, took approximately six months, compared to six weeks for ''

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

'' and four months for '' 2''.

Recording and production

The group began recording sessions for ''Afterglow'' on June 10, 2012. As with their previous two albums, BCC released a number of behind-the-scenes video clips of the recording process leading up to the album's announcement. Speaking about the recording of the album, Hughes has praised the vocal sound achieved by producer Kevin Shirley, stating that "We butted heads a little on the first and second albums, simply because we're both control freaks, but this was the record on which Kevin and became friends".

Composition

The majority of the material for ''Afterglow'' was written by frontman Glenn Hughes, who has cited

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his ind ...

's extensive solo touring schedule as the main barrier to the guitarist's heightened involvement in the composition of the album. Speaking for an official

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

, Hughes has pointed out, in reference to his approach to ''Afterglow'', that "I wanted to make a record that stood up to the first two, but not to repeat either of those records. There would be absolutely no point beginning it with a song like 'Black Country'".

Music

In the official press release for the album, the sound of ''Afterglow'' was described as "Rich in hooks, melodies and choruses", with Hughes pointing out that he wanted the material to have "more acoustic moments than the previous two lbums, as well as more exposure of keyboardist

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

. In a track-by-track overview of the album, Hughes has offered descriptions of a few individual tracks on ''Afterglow'', including "Big Train" ("very quirky and British-sounding"), "Midnight Sun" (which he compared to the sound of

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

), "Confessor" ("slow and groovy" like "No Time" on ''Black Country''), and "Cry Freedom" ("a

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

/ Humble Pie kind of a vibe").

Lyrics

In an interview before the announcement of the album, Hughes described the lyrical content of ''Afterglow'' as "kind of a continuation f the band's previous albums, claiming that "there's gonna be some darker stuff on there, because the lyrics I'm writing are kind of dark". Hughes has also revealed that the potential that the album would be the band's last provided inspiration for the writing of its songs, explaining that "I figured that if this was to be the last album, then I need to come in with some pretty wild and epic tracks".

Release

The first details regarding the band's third album, including the title ''Afterglow'' and the cover artwork, were released at the end of August in 2012. The first song to be released from ''Afterglow'' was "Confessor", which was made available as a free digital download from the band's official website on September 19, 2012.

Track listing

Personnel

;Black Country Communion * Glenn Hughes –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, acoustic guitar (track 10) *

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

, acoustic guitar, co-lead vocals (track 5) *

Jason Bonham Jason John Bonham (born 15 July 1966) is an English drummer. He is the son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. Since his father's death in September 1980, he has performed with the surviving three members of Led Zeppelin on several occasi ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, backing vocals (track 2) *

–

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s ;Production personnel *

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing *

Jeff Bova Jeff Bova (born Jeffrey Bova in 1953) is an American musician. He has been active in the music industry since the mid-1970s, contributing to recordings by significant mainstream artists like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Blondie, Eric Clapton, ...

–

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

tion (track 6) * Jared Kvitka –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Josh LaCount – additional engineering *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering * Marcus Bird –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

and direction

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Black Country Communion albums Albums produced by Kevin Shirley