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May 7, 2012With one or two exceptions, this CD never lets up, epitomizing his biz-wise mastery of rhumba boogie and the second line. The two pop hits lead. The gris-gris tracks are songs not shtick.
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Apr 3, 2012It is one of the best of his career.
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Mar 29, 2012No one makes music like this: the Night Tripper rampages inimitably through swamp blues, voodoo funk and Afrobeat, with his trademark piano.
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Mar 29, 2012There's no denying the vintage voodoo--or the palpable disgust--the Doctor summons with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.
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Apr 4, 2012The legions who bought and enjoyed El Camino are sure to enjoy this unofficial second helping and those who yearn for more of the freakier blues of Rebennack's 1960s heyday are certain to agree this brilliant gumbo is just what the doctor ordered.
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Apr 4, 2012A sweeping confession of sanctification, embrace and glory, this is deliverance personified.
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Apr 3, 2012His latest is the closest he has come to making a masterpiece in a very long time.
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UncutMar 29, 2012The album feels disciplined and enormously funky. [May 2012, p.61]
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Apr 10, 2012The legendary pianist sounds reinvigorated on "Locked Down" (Nonesuch), in part because he's not plugging into a formula, but animating it with some feisty new sidemen.
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Apr 3, 2012One of his best, no doubt, and arguably one of the best-sounding records so far this year.
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Billboard.comApr 3, 2012An album that could've easily come from other Mississippi River stops where horns and funk pump through the bloodstreams-Chicago, Memphis or St. Louis.
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Apr 17, 2012The album is at once classic and modern, and while it's short on timeless songs like "Glowin'," "Loop Garoo" and "Mos' Scocious," on the whole it's a more engaged, eclectic, and ornery set than these types of revivalist projects usually are.
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Jun 28, 2012Locked Down is the result of a synergy between musicians of different generations – both have something to bring to the party, and the combination is compelling. It is an album of rare energy, heat, sweat and motion, and a salutary lesson to all that age need not diminish one's mojo.
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Apr 26, 2012There are a few moments when Auerbach's production touches threaten to distract from the grooves, but the overall quality is so impressively high that the occasional misstep is quickly forgotten.
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MojoApr 25, 201210 of the funkiest tracks Dr. John's been involved in since the '70s. [May 2012, p.93]
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Q MagazineApr 24, 2012[Locked Down] offers a vivid reminder as to why his myth has endured for so long. No one else comes close to sounding like this. [May 2012, p.96]
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Apr 10, 2012John has always had that deep gruff rasp, but backed by raw swamp boogie with lots of baritone sax, creepy female backing vocals and treated keyboards, he's sounding as dangerous and spooky as when laying down the gris-gris on "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" back in 1968.
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Apr 4, 2012No matter which era or what record you prefer, as an album, Locked Down stands with Rebennack's best.
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Apr 4, 2012A mystical brew of funk, gospel and delta rock.
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Apr 3, 2012Full of muscled, vintage R&B grooves, fevered soloing, psychedelic arrangements and oracular mumbo jumbo, it's the wildest record Rebennack has made in many years.
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Apr 2, 2012What emerges from their empathy is a thoroughly great record that adds punch and groove to Rebennack's humid party music.
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Apr 2, 2012For once all that languorous muck is refreshing.
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Mar 30, 2012Most impressively of all, it comfortably lives up to the promise that Auerbach apparently made to the Doctor that he would help him craft 'the best record you've made in a long time.'
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Mar 29, 2012The voice is still there, as is the attitude, and Auerbach has done an excellent job bringing an artist who will never be out of date into the 21st century.
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Mar 29, 2012The result is a dark, steamy sound that comes crawling from the Louisiana swamp like a mean-tempered 'gator.
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Apr 3, 2012This album still stands out among his recent work, not so much for the leap of faith he took collaborating with Auerbach but because it turned out so damn well.
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Apr 26, 2012People shouldn't expect a "completely Dr. John" record, but there is a lot to enjoy from the simplicity and overall throwback feel to Locked Down that provides a positive and hopeful experience.
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Apr 13, 2012Dr. John is Dr. John. He's a star, and is on fire at the center of this.
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Apr 5, 2012Dr. John and Auerbach come together to capture a rich, evocative, almost apocalyptic party on Locked Down, an album that makes you dance while wondering about the state of the world.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 20
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Mixed: 2 out of 20
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Negative: 0 out of 20
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Apr 3, 2012
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Apr 3, 2012
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May 26, 2012