I'm not quite sure what to think of Peter Frampton at this point in my life.

My older sister was heavily into Peter Frampton's shirtless pretty-boy era (Frampton Comes Alive, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" [movie]) and I saw punk as the perfect response to this bloated excess. When living in Baltimore in the 80's, I saw Frampton play a radio station concert and this was the first time that I could see that he had some pretty solid guitar chops. This observation was later reinforced when (former grade-school classmate) David Bowie took Frampton out on lead guitar for his Never Let Me Down / Glass Spider tour.



I lost track of Frampton after this until he released his Grammy Award winning instrumental disc Fingerprints (2006), which included guest appearances from Matt Cameron, Mike McCready, Charlie Watt and Bill Wyman along with a cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun".



Frampton released his fourteenth disc, Thank You Mr. Churchill, earlier this year and toured arenas this past summer on a co-headlining bill with Yes. I haven't personally heard the new disc but it has been getting favorably reviews:

"Frampton has wound up with a heavy progressive rock record, roiling with dense riffs, segmented songs, and winding blues jams. Happily, he hasn't ignored his previous life as either a Tamla/Motown devotee or pop star, cutting the introspection and ambition with a handful of lighter moments that give the album levity while broadening its palette, helping to push Thank You Mr. Churchill to one of Frampton’s richest records and unexpectedly one of his best." -- allmusic