{"id":31780,"date":"2013-09-08T19:35:03","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T00:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=31780"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:37:54","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:37:54","slug":"black-star-riders-all-hell-breaks-loose-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/black-star-riders-all-hell-breaks-loose-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Star Riders | All Hell Breaks Loose<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Nikiforos Skoumas<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"BlackIn one form or another the reunited Thin Lizzy have been touring or playing live for the past fifteen years. It was 1996 when John Sykes decided to bring back the latest Thunder & Lighting<\/em> formation of the band to pay tribute to the music of Phil Lynott. <\/p>\n

By 2011 guitarist Scott Gorham took charge of the reformed Thin Lizzy with the vision of moving away from its tribute nature into a full-time recording and performing outfit. <\/p>\n

For the purpose of a new studio album the group was renamed to Black Star Riders; Gorham is the only authentic Lizzy member in this latest incarnation, featuring guitarist Damon Johnson, bassist Marco Mendoza, drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and Irish vocalist Ricky Warwick. Their debut release All Hell Breaks Loose<\/em> delivers on the promise of a Lizzy-sounding all-original studio album. <\/p>\n

The basic components that make this effort believable are primarily the twin guitar formation very much in line with the late-\u201870s\/early-\u201880s melodic style of Thin Lizzy, Ricky\u2019s singing is similar to Lynott\u2019s but most important are the narrative lyrics. The Riders\u2019 songwriting playbook features the same persona’s and storylines as the ones Phil used to craft his tunes, effectively capturing the essence of the original band. <\/p>\n

Indeed, Black Star Riders do recreate Phil Lynott\u2019s vision though unfortunately not the very best of Thin Lizzy. To be absolutely critical, the passionate Lizzy-Lynott fan will feel the absence of a masterpiece tune in the style of \u201cStill in Love with You,\u201d \u201cBlack Rose,\u201d \u201cSouthbound\u201d or \u201cWarriors.\u201d Having said that, all the members of BSR are used to filling the shoes of iconic players in their respective careers so when provided with a well-laid musical path \u2014 being the case here \u2014 they deliver. <\/p>\n

Just as important is the fact that Gorham opted for the costly production services of Kevin Shirley who is hired systematically by such heavyweights as Journey and Iron Maiden. As most are aware for Shirley there is no one particular way of producing an album; he seems to be doing a lot of research to the point where he is capable of perfectly emulating the trademark sound of each band. And therein lies the success of Black Star Riders; the vintage twin guitar melodies, the rocking bass lines, the unconventional drum grooves make for a distinct rock proposition in 2013 which is an accomplishment in itself, let alone paying tribute to one of the most iconic figures in rock. <\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Line up:
\nRicky Warwick – Vocals
\nScott Gorham – Guitar
\nDamon Johnson – Guitar
\nMarco Mendoza – Bass
\nJimmy DeGrasso \u2013 Drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. All Hell Breaks Loose
\n2. Bound For Glory
\n3. Kingdom Of The Lost
\n4. Bloodshot
\n5. Kissin\u2019 The Ground
\n6. Hey Judas
\n7. Hoodoo Voodoo
\n8. Valley Of The Stones
\n9. Someday Salvation
\n10. Before The War
\n11. Blues Ain\u2019t So Bad<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast Entertainment<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Nikiforos Skoumas – Columnist — In one form or another the reunited Thin Lizzy have been touring or playing live for the past fifteen years. It was 1996 when John Sykes decided to bring […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[2847],"class_list":{"0":"post-31780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-melodic-hard-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}