Warren Haynes has offered thinly veiled political statements within his catalog to this point, but it’s difficult to disguise them on Gov’t Mule’s aptly titled 10th album; the band’s sessions began on last year’s contentious election day. One of the Mule’s most diverse and engaged albums kicks off with defiant anthem “Stone Cold Rage,” on which Haynes acknowledges the country’s seething anger while utilizing a soundtrack that’s equal parts vintage James Gang and ZZ Top, refracted through the patented Gov’t Mule blues/rock prism. At the same time, Haynes is no wild-eyed anarchist, and Revolution Come…Revolution Go is not his Molotov cocktail happy hour, as evidenced by the title track where he reminds us, with the requisite grit and slink, that this too shall pass. The message is reinforced on “Pressure Under Fire,” where Haynes points out that no matter which side we take individually, the only way forward is collectively. Most important, Revolution is not a political screed, as the band scorches and eases its way through a fair number of life/love reflections, including the gospel-flecked “The Man I Want To Be” and the Jimi Hendrix-tinted balladry of “Easy Times.” Even in its outrage, Gov’t Mule assures us, like two other songwriters in tumultuous times, all we need is love.
—Brian Baker
