Glenn Hughes had The KLF to thank for saving his life. At least that’s what he said after the techno duo asked him to provide vocals on 1992’s monster hit, America: What Time Is Love?. It was the first project Hughes had undertaken since finally kicking the addictions that had undermined his creative life over the past couple of decades.
Free of booze and drugs, he resumed his solo career later that year, though it wasn’t until 1995, arguably, that he truly regained his stride with Feel (7⁄10). The album sounds like a belated companion to his immediate post-Purple debut, 1977’s Play Me Out, which drew from his beloved soul and R&B.
Not everything works, with Hughes and his band (including old mate Pat Thrall on guitar/ keyboards and a cameo from ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum) tending to excel when cranking up the funk riffs on Redline or riding the heavy grooves of Coffee & Vanilla.
The self-explanatory Addiction (6⁄10) landed 12 months later, with Hughes expunging his demons over much harder, guitar-centric terrain that would please the metalheads alienated by his more melodic detours. A somewhat patchy set is ultimately saved by the acrobatic leaps and turns of his remarkably resilient voice.
