Silver Rails

is 's first solo studio album since 2003's fine . recorded the set at Abbey Road with producer and collaborated with a dazzling array of musicians. Notably, he brought back and from the project -- a tribute band to -- which released its own album in 2012. He also enlisted son and guest guitarists including , , and wrote songs with longtime collaborators , as well as his wife, . The music is quite diverse, making this album a distant spiritual cousin to 1969's . There are some scathing rockers, most notably the rumbling, politically intense "Drone," illustrated only by distorted bass and drums and samples of a WWII Stuka. "Reach for the Night" is a sophisticated, multivalent pop song with R&B and even jazz overtones. The piano-driven rock of "Fields of Forever" actually recalls the spirit of "Doin' That Scrapyard Thing" from 's album. "Rusty Lady" (about the death of -- wasn't a fan) is a funky blues with 's silvery guitar punctuating the mix. The Caribbean rhythms and horns in "Candlelight" make it a sophisticated outlier here, 's organ careening around a bubbling bassline, stuttering drum kit, brass, and 's dancing single lines and vamps. The complex melody in "Hidden Cities" walks a line between metal and prog, while the next cut, "Don't Look Now," commences as a lithe, weary ballad before gradually cracking itself open and transforming into a midtempo rocker. 's stinging fills punch through 's bassline in the strutting modern blues that is "Keep It Down." The set closes with the thundering rock and roll of "No Surrender," the most raucous tune on the set. 's voice is a tad grainy, but his pitch and phrasing remain intact. is chancy and engaging, despite some inconsistent moments, and stands as a bright testament to an exceptional musician who, for over 50 years, has pushed at the margins of every genre he's taken on. ~ Thom Jurek