Review Summary: Black Stone Cherry go back to their roots... or do they?
Black Stone Cherry have been mediocre for long enough that it's easy to forget the sheer brilliance of their raw, bombastic self-titled debut and their slightly more polished, but still above-average sophomore effort. Unfortunately, those albums were followed by a duo of uninspired, radio-ready efforts that saw them straying too far from their humble southern roots. Kentucky born and bred, these southern hard rockers found it fitting to name their fifth record after their place of origin - signaling a return to their roots not just in name, but musical style. They even ditched their old record label and producers and opted to record and self-produce this album in their hometown. So the question is: did their efforts pay off?
Upon first glance, it doesn't seem to me like they hit the mark. The opening track and lead single "The Way of the Future" is plodding and wrought with an painfully digital fuzz, while Chris Robertson's voice undergoes processing typical of your average edgy bro-metal band. Heavier than their last two albums? Sure, but not in a good way. The following track, "In Our Dreams," begins with a catchy hook, but features the same uninspired songwriting that plagued them in the past, just wrapped up in a heavier package (which its awesome music video unfortunately can't save no matter how hard it tries).
Thankfully after these two disappointing numbers, Black Stone Cherry shows that they weren't
all talk and no action. "Shakin' My Cage" is a legitimate, honest-to-God return of the old Black Stone Cherry that we all know and love, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief upon hearing it for the first time. I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't choose this song as the lead single - it features the same mix of scorching riffage and southern swagger that put them on the map in the first place. "Soul Machine" may have lyrics that border on Blame it On the Boom Boom-tier in terms of ridiculousness (what the hell is a "soul machine" anyway?), but it's just too much damn fun for me to care - the spirited female vocals and horns also add a nice touch. And their cover of "War" might just be their most inspired work since "Tired of the Rain" from their debut way back then.
Unfortunately, what really hurts this album is the godawful production on it. It's great that they can do what they want now that they're free from the pressures of churning out hits for their old major label, but that's no reason to drown every other song in unbearably fuzzy distortion. It sounds like they turned the gain up to maximum and ran it through a crappy guitar amp sim in Pro Tools, and the net result is a cold and digital sound. I feel that a warmer, analog-sounding style of production as used by current heavy bands like Graveyard and Down, or even BSC's previous albums, would have done this album a lot of good. At least the closing track "The Rambler," in addition to being the prettiest song they've ever written, avoids these production woes.
All in all, Kentucky is a valiant attempt by the band to return to what made them so good in the first place, and it even has a few moments that come totally out of nowhere to surprise in the very best of ways. Unfortunately, it's evident that they still struggle at times to shake the trite, forgettable songwriting that they had fallen comfortable with in their more recent releases, despite their efforts this time to deliver something raw and creative. Maybe not a complete return to form, but certainly an effort worth recognizing.
Best cuts:
"Shakin' My Cage"
"War"
"Soul Machine"
"Evil" (Bonus Track)
"The Rambler"
