One Track Mind: Device featuring Glenn Hughes, “Through It All” from Device (2013)

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Glenn Hughes, despite his gypsy resume, boasts one of the most distinctive voices in rock — as heard on the first new music he’s issued since Black Country Communion imploded, a guest shot on a new project from David Draiman of Disturbed fame.

Draiman’s album and band, both called Device, feature a variety of big names including Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and System of a Down’s Serj Tankian. I was drawn, however, to this track, if only because Hughes — who’s previously held brief stints in Deep Purple, Trapeze and Black Sabbath, among others — may be one of the most deeply talented, deeply unlucky figures in rock. He’s never quite able to time it just right with these bands, up to and including Black Country Communion. Something always seems to go wrong, be that of his own doing (in particular before he cleaned up at the turn of the 1990s) or not.

Yet, give Hughes credit: He bounces back from adversity, often stronger than ever. Arriving in the wake of a messy end for Black Country Communion, which fell apart when guitarist Joe Bonamassa proved too busy to give the project his full attention, “Through It All” is no different. After a rumbling, foreboding introductory turn from Draiman, Hughes is given an appropriately redemptive verse — and he launches into a soaring, darkly emotional reading of the lyric.

If this is Hughes letting some of his frustrations and hurt out, Device — due April 9, 2013 from Warner Bros., and also featuring Filter alum Geno Lenardo — is all the better for it.

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Nick DeRiso