Transition (Walter Trout album) explained

Transition
Type:studio
Artist:the Walter Trout Band
Cover:WalterTroutTransition.jpeg
Recorded:May 12 – June 16, 1992
Studio:Front Page Recorders
(Costa Mesa, California)
Length:47:50
Label:Provogue
Producer:Kevin Beamish
Chronology:Walter Trout solo
Prev Title:Prisoner of a Dream
Prev Year:1990
Next Year:1993

Transition is the third solo studio album by American blues rock musician Walter Trout, credited to the Walter Trout Band. Recorded between May and June 1992 at Front Page Recorders in Costa Mesa, California, it was produced by Kevin Beamish and released on October 9, 1992, by Provogue Records. The album reached number 46 on the Dutch Albums Chart and was supported by the release of two singles: "Running in Place" and "Motivation of Love".

Background

After recording Life in the Jungle and Prisoner of a Dream in Scandinavia, Walter Trout recorded in the US for the first time for Transition, working at Front Page Recorders in Costa Mesa, California with producer Kevin Beamish, with a budget of around $60,000 – Provogue Records' highest investment in an album up to that point.[1] The album was released in the Netherlands on October 9, 1992, followed by a wider European release on October 26.[2] It was preceded by the singles "Running in Place" on September 18, 1992, and "Motivation of Love" at the end of the year.[2] [3]

Reception

Commercial

Transition charted in the Netherlands only, peaking at number 46 on the Dutch Albums Chart.[4]

Critical

Music & Media described Transition as "less bluesy" than both Prisoner of a Dream and Life in the Jungle, noting that "With each album the blues content diminishes".[2] Walter Trout himself has acknowledged this change in retrospect, complaining about "the way the guitars are done" and claiming that the production team "tried to turn me into some insipid pop act. It was like they'd taken away the essence of who I am. That album hurt my career. It was a setback."[5] Classic Rock writer Henry Yates selected Transition as an album "to avoid" in Trout's discography, claiming that "the bone-headed production ... buried the emotional honesty at work beneath a sickly sheen".[5]

Personnel

Walter Trout Band
Additional musicians
Additional personnel
Notes

Charts

Chart (1992)!scope="col"
Peak
position
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)46

Notes and References

  1. Tilli . Robert . Provogue's Got The Blues . . 9 . 30 . July 25, 1992 . 10 . May 27, 2024 . October 9, 2022 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1992/MM-1992-07-25.pdf . live .
  2. Tilli . Robert . Walter Trout Rocks The Blues . . 9 . 44 . October 31, 1992 . 15 . May 27, 2024 . May 19, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240519201545/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1992/MM-1992-10-31.pdf . live .
  3. New Releases: Singles . . 10 . 3 . January 16, 1993 . 8 . May 27, 2024 . May 19, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240519201047/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1993/MM-1993-01-16.pdf . live .
  4. Web site: Discografie Walter Trout . dutchcharts.nl . Dutch . May 27, 2024 . October 4, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141004124529/http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Walter+Trout . live .
  5. Web site: The Walter Trout albums you should definitely own . Yates . Henry . . January 1, 2024 . May 27, 2024 . May 27, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240527121431/https://www.loudersound.com/features/walter-trout-best-albums . live .