Black Stone Cherry has gone from a small club band/opening act to become a headline act but has for some reason never risen to Festival or Arena/Stadium size headliners something that bands like Rival Sons and Greta Van Fleet has – at least in the States. The quality on the band’s albums are for the most part really high with only a few mishaps along the way. The self-titled debut from 2006, the follow-up Folklore And Superstition (2008) and Kentucky (2016) are all examples of killer records that very well could have taken the band up in the sky. The last album – The Human Condition (2020) – however was a disappointment and showed a band treading water with too few songs that actually grabbed a hold. Hopefully the band is on revenge mode with this record.
Category Classic Rock
Greta Van Fleet – Starcatcher
The first time I heard of Greta Van Fleet was when a friend played me a YouTube clip of four teenagers playing in front of their friends at school in something that looked like a lecture hall or something. GVF was on fire but their friends – who had probably never even heard of Led Zeppelin – looked like they had been taken to another planet or something. I thought they were cool as f**k and I also knew that we were going to get more of these guys in the near future. We did. Two E.P’s in 2017 and a debut album in 2018 and Greta Van Fleet was the talk of the town. Of course, accusations of Led Zeppelin plagiarism occurred and even though that was highly exaggerated there was a resemblance both musically and in singer Joshua Kiszka’s Robert Plant like voice. But GVF was also good at what they did. Damn good even and now after two highly acclaimed records a third is out on the market – with a whole lot of expectations in tow.
Alice Cooper – Road
Mr Vincent Furnier needs no further presentation except for two words: Alice Cooper. An icon. A legend. The fact that a guy in his mid 70’s is still relevant is really impressing. It’s also impressing that someone his age refuses to sit idle and become a nostalgia act – hello Kiss and Mötley Crüe. Thing is, despite knowing that albums doesn’t really bring in the green anymore, The Coop refuses to not create. He needs to. It’s in his DNA. So albums keep on coming – sometimes they’re great, sometimes more uneven – ever so often no matter if it’s as a solo artist or as a member of his hobby-band Hollywood Vampires. And he tours. A lot. His latest effort is out but apparently another album with a different angle is in the making as I write this. Respect to The Coop.
Mats Karlsson – Mood Elevator
Here’s a clear case of “Mats who?”. A solo album by a pretty unknown Swedish artist with a common name is probably not an easy sell. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have bothered either if it wasn’t for the promo of his debut solo album The Time Optimist (2020) despite the fact that I’m familiar with his work in Swedish hard-rockers 220 Volt in the 80’s. But I’m damn glad I did because said album is a real winner. As a solo artist Mats has ditched the Hard Rock/Metal style of 220 Volt and gone into a more rootsy, Classic Rock territory with inserts of Blues, melodic Hard Rock and Pop which works like a charm. He also sings, something he does with all the glory. It’s a record I still listen lots to which creates some high expectations for the new one.
Rival Sons – Darkfighter
Four years is a pretty long break between albums for a band that usually puts out an album each or every other year. Rival Sons has always been a creative bunch when it comes to song writing so when it was time for the band to put out new music the new-written songs had piled up and the band was thinking about releasing a double album. Thankfully they decided not to. So instead it was decided to put out the first half batch of songs and wait a few months to release the next batch. A good move in my book. There are quite a few bands that have put out double albums recently and in all honesty, it’s kinda hard to digest. With only eight songs to swallow it should be a lot easier to embrace and hopefully Rival Sons has delivered yet another killer effort.
Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution – The Golden Age of Music
Arjen Lucassen is known for Prog Rock/Metal. He’s also known for writing everything, arranging everything and producing his projects. The biggest name is of course Ayreon but he also has Star One, Ambeon, Guilt Machine and Stream Of Passion. What many might not know is that he was once part of Hard Rock outfit Bodine and the slightly glammier melodic Hard Rock band Vengeance. That’s why it probably came as a surprise that when upon his return after the last Star One record it was as the bass player in his new band Supersonic Revolution – a Glam Rock band. Not Glam as in Poison though. No this is based on 70’s Glam – Bowie, T.Rex, Slade, Mott The Hoople, Sweet… You get the idea. For me, after all of his ambitious but great Prog records I found the idea of him doing 70’s Glam very interesting.
The Answer – Sundowners
Here’s a band that I haven’t only followed since their debut Rise in 2006 but loved dearly as well. Six albums out and not a weak song in sight. The band’s take on raw, edgy and robust 70’s Classic Rock completed with hooks, hooks and more hooks where the melodies shine and holds an instant catchiness is right up my alley. But it was seven years ago that the band released their last album Solas, an album that took the band into somewhat different territories, an experimental album, an album that was a bit hard to get into but when it stuck, man did it stick! Since the band said in interviews for that record that if they didn’t took a few steps up success-wise with that album they’d probably had no other choice than to split up, that if they hadn’t become big after six albums they probably never would it left me a bit worried.
The Winery Dogs – III
When the word got out that The Winery Dogs had formed it was impossible to not get excited. I mean who wouldn’t want to hear a power trio made up of lead vocalist/guitarist Richie Kotzen (Poison, Mr Big and a whole bunch of brilliant solo albums), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr Big, David Lee Roth, Sons Of Apollo, Skills) and drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Flying Colors, Sons Of Apollo)? What was also quite unclear was how this band would sound. In what genre would they dwell? Lots to be excited about and a few questions. The Winery Dogs did not disappoint. Not one bit. The self-titled debut from 2013 was magnificent. Full of fresh and vital Classic Rock made by brilliant musicians without overdoing the musicianship and focusing on groove and great songs, expectations were of course monumental when it was revealed that a follow-up would come out and that this was actually a real band and not just another all-star project.
Electric Boys – Grand Explosivos
File under “better today than back when”. There are a few bands in that category but not many. Swedish rockers Electric Boys are definitely one of those. Which kind of speak volumes considering just how damn good their three albums (four if you count both versions of the debut album Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride (1989/1990)) were before the split back in 1994. The reunion album …And Them Boys Done Swang from 2011 showed the original line-up releasing their best album to date but I still hold the follow-up Starflight United (2014) their finest moment so far. Today original members Franco Santunione (guitar) and Niclas Sigevall (drums) are both gone from the band. Jolle Atlagic joined in 2015 as a drummer besides Sigevall (who left for good in 2020) and Martin Thomander, who was in the last line-up of the band in the 90’s rejoined in 2020 when Santunione quit.
Black Star Riders – Wrong Side of Paradise
Bands like Whitesnake and Rainbow were notorious for changing members with revolving doors when it comes to band members. Black Star Riders is another one. No albums has been recorded with the same line-up as the one before but no line-up change has affected neither the sound or song quality. The band that morphed from a Thin Lizzy tribute act into a real band has now lost the last link to Thin Lizzy as guitarist and co-founder Scott Gorham left the band to focus on his Thin Lizzy tribute. Also, directly after the recording of this album was finished the other guitarist Christian Martucci bid his farewells to BSR. This leaves singer/guitarist Ricky Warwick as the only original member with bassist Robbie Crane the longest standing member – he came in after the debut in 2014.
CD & Festival reviews 