Home Read Classic Album Review: Tom Wilson | Planet Love

Classic Album Review: Tom Wilson | Planet Love

The Canadian singer-songwriter’s solo debut introduces his funk soul brother.

This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Why the hell Tom Wilson isn’t a household name with an eight-figure bank account is beyond me.

He’s got the track record: Nearly 20 years on the Canadian music scene with Florida Razors, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings and his most successful endeavour, Junkhouse. And anyone who’s heard his midnight-DJ rasp and fuzzy swamp-rock surely knows he’s got the vocal and musical chops. Maybe this trailblazing solo debut will turn the tide by showing a new side of Wilson: The funk soul brother. Planet Love is a too-cool-for-school roster of Beckish folk-hop (Dig It), finger-popping rebop (Satellite), Tom Waits hoodoo (Super Soul), funky blaxploitation soul (Acid Head) — and, for some weird reason, a whole whack of Stones references, from the Bitch-y bassline of Where’s the Party to the Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out and Hang Fire namedrops on various tracks. He may not be a rock star yet, but at least Tom can channel one now and then.

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