Black Stone Cherry : Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea
by Mark Allen
Staff Writer
Any naysayer who claims this isn’t one of the best hard rock releases of 2011 deserves to have both their eyes blackened. Of course, the odds of there being any naysayers are about as slim as finding diamonds in dog-shit, because this third effort from Black Stone Cherry kicks your ass, waits for you to get up and dust off your britches, then kicks your ass all over again, and you will thank them for it.
The album’s first single, “White Trash Millionaire,” gives a good indication of what the album as a whole sounds like. Black Stone Cherry have held onto their hard rocking southern swagger but have seasoned it with the commercial catchiness of bands like Nickelback or Hinder and then coated it with the melodic-but-beefy production that a master knob-twiddler like Howard Benson brings to the mix.
Don’t misunderstand—Black Stone Cherry have not sacrificed one hint of their heaviness in their attempt to make a mark on the mainstream. The guitars swarm over you like a massive tsunami of riffs that lock tightly with the thunderous bass and rhythm section to create a monstrous wall of heavy-hitting sound. Imagine the gut-punch power of Black Label Society but with bigger hooks and bigger choruses and you’ve got the general idea. In fact, everything about this release is big, as if the band made a calculated attempt to prove that the “bigger is better” adage still applies to hard rock. Subtlety was not on the agenda when this album was being recorded.
While nearly every track is good, there are some standouts, with “Blame it on the Boom Boom” perhaps being the best of the bunch. A head-banging hard rocker that sounds like Aerosmith on steroids with its lyrical tongue planted firmly in cheek features a down ‘n’ dirty riff punctuated by all the “Yeah, yeah!” gang vocals you could ask for. The chorus transcends commonplace catchiness and bounces straight into totally infectious territory, the sizzling guitar solo the icing on the rock-and-roll cake.
In stark contrast to the sex-fueled debauchery of “Blame it on the Boom Boom,” the song “Such a Shame” lays down a seriously killer groove with serious lyrics to match, proving that Black Stone Cherry cannot be discarded as just another party-‘til-you-puke band as they tackle the tragic loss of a young girl’s life and the lack of love that caused it. With its Slash-style riffing and double-kick drums, the song slams you right in the soul, both musically as well as lyrically.
There is little filler to be found. “Can’t You See” begins with some southern-fried intensity before bursting into a big mid-tempo anthem. “Let Me See You Shake” resurrects the party-rock vibe with another raging riff guaranteed to get your body moving just like the song demands. The perfunctory power ballad makes an appearance with “Stay,” which features clichéd “lost love” lyrics but is saved by some impossible-to-resist hooks. Following this display of the band’s softer side, they crank things back up with “Change,” the heaviest, least-commercial song on the album.
Bottom line, this is a great album that will rock you so hard it’ll leave you with more black and blue marks than a Kentucky farm boy caught peeping through his hot cousin’s bedroom window. It’s commercial while still being totally ballsy; the band may have gone catchy, but they didn’t cut off their cajones to do it. The band’s previous albums were good, but just missing that final cherry on top to make them great. Well, they managed to find that elusive cherry on this go-round. Easily one of the best hard rock releases of the year, so good that even if the devil himself shows up on your doorstep to take it out of your stereo, you won’t give it up without one hell of a fight.
Genre: Hard rock
Band:
Chris Robertson (vocals/guitar)
Jon Lawhon (bass)
Ben Wells (guitar)
John Fred Young (drums)
Track Listing
1. White Trash Millionaire
2. Killing Floor
3. In My Blood
4. Such a Shame
5. Won’t Let Go
6. Blame it on the Boom Boom
7. Like I Roll
8. Can’t You See
9. Let Me See You Shake
10. Stay
11. Change
12. All I’m Dreamin’ Of
Webpage: www.blackstonecherry.com
Label: Roadrunner Records
Hardrock Haven rating: 9.4/10