Review Summary: A celebration of hard rock
Whenever I come across bands like Stone Axe, I feel confident about the future of hard rock. Granted,
Stay of Execution does not reinvent the wheel, but it sure does remind us what a beautiful invention it is. Right from the bat, you can feel that Tony Reed (also Mos Generator) and Dru Brinkerhoff are apt students of the genre. The spirit of the immortal Paul Kossoff in the guitar playing, as well as Free’s
Tons of Sobs in songwriting, is apparent. However, they don’t limit themselves; they equally love Lynyrd Skynyrd, as the opening of “Lady Switchblade” reeks of “That Smell”, and Black Sabbath with the vocal melody on the spacey “Deep Blue” bringing, effortlessly, to mind that on “Planet Caravan”. Now, all the namedropping may make you wonder why you should check Stone Axe and not just jam the old classics. Well, if you’re not into classic rock done by modern bands, you’ll probably discard
Stay of Execution as derivative. However, you will miss one hell of an album that is actually a celebration of rock. Take, for example, the groovy “Metal Damage” with its infectious Schenker-isms or the laidback “For All Who Fly” that brings to mind Black Crowes, another legendary rock act. To make a long story short, if bands like the aforementioned or Cream, Mountain, early-Whitesnake, and Pentagram, among others, move you, this LP is for you. The only drawback of
Stay of Execution is that it’s Stone Axe’s swan song; an album that consists of unreleased material, tracks from splits, and singles, so there’s no hope for a new release in the future. But, as always, it’s better to burn out than it is to rust…
