''The Storm'' is the second studio album from American singer-songwriter
ZZ Ward, released on
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
on June 30, 2017. The album reached number 1 on the
''Billboard'' Blues Albums chart.
Production
Ward has said ''The Storm'' is influenced by the music of blues artists including
Howlin' Wolf,
Robert Johnson and
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...
. Prior to the album's release, on March 2, 2017, Ward released the single "The Deep", featuring Chicago MC
Joey Purp. The track is built around a sample of "As Long As I've Got You" by The Charmels, which is also sampled in "
C.R.E.A.M.
"C.R.E.A.M." (an acronym of "Cash Rules Everything Around Me") is a song by the American hardcore hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released on January 31, 1994 by Loud Records, as the second single from their debut studio album ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 ...
" by
Wu-Tang Clan. The track "Ride" featuring
Gary Clark, Jr. was originally featured in the 2017
Pixar film ''
Cars 3''. Ward performed the song on ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' on April 17, 2017. The music video for the single "Cannonball" was released in July 2017; it features blues singer
Fantastic Negrito, with Ward playing harmonica on the song.
[Leslie Michele Derrough]
"ZZ Ward Steps It Up a Notch With 'The Storm',"
''Glide Magazine'', July 3, 2017.
Track listing
Personnel
*
ZZ Ward – vocals, guitars, harmonica, drum programming, percussion, engineering
* Trevor Brown – guitars, bass, background vocals
* Erick Walls – guitars
* Jonathan Keller – guitars, bass, drum programming, percussion, engineering
*
Theron "Neff U" Feemster
Theron Otis Feemster, commonly known as Theron Feemster, also known by the names Ron Feemster or Neff-U, is a Grammy Award winning American record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.
Life and career
Theron "Neff-U" Feemster is a Gr ...
– piano, keyboards, guitars, drum programming, string arrangements, engineering
* Rich Parry – drum programming, percussion, engineering
*
Gary Clark, Jr. – guitars
*
Fantastic Negrito – vocals
*
Michael Fitzpatrick – vocals, keyboards, drum programming, engineering
*
Ludwig Göransson – programming, keyboards, guitars, bass, vocal engineering
* Bianca McClure – violin
* Thomas Drayton – bass
* Zaire Koalo – background vocals
*
Warren "Oak" Felder – programming, engineering, background vocals
*
E. Kidd Bogart – engineering, background vocals
* Jabari Tawiah – engineering
* Kyle Mann – engineering
* Paul Redel – engineering
* Gavin Paddock – engineering
* Bobby Holland – engineering
* Tyler Beans – engineering
*
Rich Costey – mixing
*
Neal Pogue – mixing
*
Dave Bassett – mixing, vocal recording
*
Chris Gehringer – mastering
Chart history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storm, The
2017 albums
Blues rock albums by American artists
Hollywood Records albums
Albums produced by Oak Felder