Blak and Blu

Blak and Blu's production (by Rob Cavallo and Mike Elizondo in collaboration with Clark) is too polished and processed for its own good, but if this album isn't likely to change your life, it will make an hour of it a lot more interesting, and there's no arguing that Gary Clark, Jr. is a talent strong enough to match his record company's hype.

Blak and Blu throbs more like a lava lamp turned upside, a red-line splat of molten nightlife served on a huge sonic bed only achieved by major label productions.

Blak and Blu pays off; it's not a perfect album, but it is bold and exciting.

The guitarist's musical openness is admirable. But Blak and Blu sounds like he's just trying on different styles

Though Clark can occasionally get self-indulgent (some of the jammier songs here drift past the six-minute mark), his casual charisma is powerful enough to consistently hold together Blak and Blu's eclecticism.

Clark can do it all and it's entirely likely that Blak And Blu will be recognized in the future as a moment when American music suddenly got a great deal more interesting.

Blak & Blu proves that an outstanding talent isn't predicated on having a signature song, and that the 28-year-old is worthy of the hype thrown his way.

There is an earnestness to Blak & Blu, even in its bumpier moments, that holds your attention, even if it's the testosterone fueled bombast that initially grabs it by the throat.

Clark's refusal to be pigeonholed as merely a great axman results in a diverse, sometimes confounding record that exhibits a still-evolving oeuvre while still showcasing the chops that got him to this point in his career.

Blak & Blu certainly isn't legendary. But it's a pretty good start.

On this album, it's still his blues that cut deepest.

And yet, despite such growing pains, Clark's penchant for restless, exploratory tangents ensures that Blak and Blu hits like a ton of bricks.

His own tunes range all over the place--Travis County is breathless garage-rock, The Life a debonair, Ne-Yo-like homage to idleness--but the quality is uniformly high.