{"id":43227,"date":"2014-08-01T08:36:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T13:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=43227"},"modified":"2014-08-01T08:36:28","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T13:36:28","slug":"x-drive-get-your-rock-on-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/x-drive-get-your-rock-on-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"X-Drive | Get Your Rock On<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"X-DriveX-Drive is another star-studded, rock-oriented project worth taking a look at. Founded by Oregon-based guitarist and songwriter Jeremy Brunner, it\u2019s comprised of Midline\/Cure For The Fall drummer Fred Fischer and bassist James Lomenzo, well-known among fans of White Lion and Megadeth. The one to complete the picture is a longtime Montrose singer and part of Burning Rain project, Keith St. John, who handles the vocals. And while X-Drive is not necessarily an exact sum of all its parts music-wise \u2013 that is, some Montrose-meets-White-Lion-meets-Megadeth-meets-Midline kind of hybrid \u2013 their largely anticipated Get Your Rock On<\/em> will get the audience\u2019s attention partially due to the rich resume of the majority of musicians involved. <\/p>\n

In its entirety, Get Your Rock On<\/em> skillfully balances between the rootsy hard rock tradition (with the \u201880s-infused inclination towards powerful choruses) and gritty contemporary sound, all spiced up with a bit of bluesy overtones. First seconds into \u201cLove\u2019s A Bitch,\u201d what you get is pounding drums against the background of raw guitar riffs, a framework for Keith St. John\u2019s feisty, bluesy vocals. The second track \u201cGet Your Rock On\u201d bears slight resemblance to Velvet Revolver sound of their Slither era \u2013 \u201c\u2026 but you like it\u201d \u2013 notices St. John in his raspy voice and it\u2019s hard not to concur. Next is \u201cSteppin\u2019 On The Rock\u201d that continues in the same gritty, dirty manner, going on full throttle much unlike its follow-up, a somber ballad \u201cBaby Bye Bye.\u201d <\/p>\n

A laid back, mellow mid-tempo \u201cCalifornia\u201d gravitates towards melodic rock rather than hard rock; a choice for a single not convincing perhaps and certainly not representative of the entire album. Anyway, apparently we\u2019re never fed up with all these happy-go-lucky, saccharine songs about the California sunset, beaches and charms of local girls, even though it might have seemed Beach Boys exhausted the topic a few decades ago. The opening riff to \u201cLay Me Down\u201d may remind you of the guitar lick which led Poison\u2019s title track of their 1990 Flesh & Blood album \u2013 deliberate or not. <\/p>\n

The next two songs are kind of easy to predict both music- and lyric-wise by taking a look at their titles. \u201cTurn The Noize Down\u201d is predictably raw and noisy (pun unintended), and predictable in theme (as it examines the rocker\u2019s natural inability to use the volume knob, a fact never comprehended by the narrow-minded society). \u201cBeyond The Angels,\u201d on the other hand, is a majestic tearjerker embedded in the best power ballad tradition, ticking all the boxes in the category from plaintive vocals to weepy, wailing melody. \u201cRattlesnake Eyes\u201d marks a return to raw and feisty, but well-crafted hard rock the group is perhaps best at.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust Can\u2019t Stay\u201d is sultry, lumbering rock track with touches of blues, rich lead guitar work and \u201880s-infused melody \u2013 one of the album\u2019s highlights. With \u201cChange Of Heart,\u201d the band again opts for mellow, acoustic sound whereas the final \u201cLove Breaks The Fool\u201d again scratches the surface of blues-infused melodic rock in vein of Whitesnake or late-\u201880s Quiet Riot.<\/p>\n

Although illustrated with intentionally cheesy, so-totally-80s cover artwork, Get Your Rock On<\/em> is, without a doubt, interesting and solid release. More than just a curio for the die-hard fans of Keith St. John or other acclaimed musicians involved in a project, it\u2019s a real showcase of talent and ideas \u2013 and perhaps, a vehicle to deserved recognition for the band\u2019s mastermind Jeremy Brunner. In the age of super-groups and projects comprised of big names of the music industry, it\u2019s easy to get lost in the maze and overlook this or that band or album. However, if you\u2019re really into contemporary hard rock remaining in touch with the genre\u2019s roots, well-crafted and performed, X-Drive and their newly released debut are these you shouldn\u2019t miss out.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nKeith St. John – Vocals
\nJames Lomenzo – Bass
\nJeremy Brunner – Guitar
\nFred Fischer – Drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tLove\u2019s A Bitch
\n2.\tGet Your Rock On
\n3.\tSteppin\u2019 On The Rock
\n4.\tBaby Bye Bye
\n5.\tCalifornia
\n6.\tLay Me Down
\n7.\tTurn The Noize Down
\n8.\tBeyond The Angels
\n9.\tRattlesnake Eyes
\n10.\tJust Can\u2019t Stay
\n11.\tChange Of Heart
\n12.\tLove Breaks The Fool<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website:
\nhttp:\/\/x-drivemusic.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/XDriveMusic<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — X-Drive is another star-studded, rock-oriented project worth taking a look at. Founded by Oregon-based guitarist and songwriter Jeremy Brunner, it\u2019s comprised of Midline\/Cure For The Fall drummer Fred Fischer […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":43228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,374,9665,1103,9666,8494,9664],"class_list":{"0":"post-43227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-frontiers-records","10":"tag-get-your-rock-on","11":"tag-hard-rock","12":"tag-james-lomenzo","13":"tag-keith-st-john","14":"tag-x-drive"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43227","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=43227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}