BLACK STAR RIDERS
"Another State of Grace"
(Nuclear Blast; 2021)
Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton
According to their Amazon sales page, Black Star Riders were created by Scott Gorham and Ricky Warwick out of the modern version of Thin Lizzy. According to Scott Gorham's Wikipedia page, Gorham, in 2012, co-founded the "Thin Lizzy spin-off band" Black Star Riders to showcase new material.
The reason I bring up this information is because, as listened to "Another State of Grace" (and before I had done any research) I was impressed by how much this album sounded like Thin Lizzy. It's got the solid guitars, the hard rock pace, and a vocalist who sounds more than a little like the great Phil Lynott.
"Another State of Grace" is ten tracks of classic hard rock that will have you thinking back on the days when FM radio played that stuff. (Maybe they do where you live but here, in Southern California, we ain't got shit.) It's a collection of hearty rock'n'roll anthems and loud guitar that will have you tapping your toe and singing along before you even finish the first listen-through.
This is actually the band's fourth album, preceded by "All Hell Breaks Lose" (2015), "The Killer Instinct" (2015) and "Heavy Fire" in 2017. As a Thin Lizzy fan, I can't believe I missed those albums and promise you that I'll be digging them up and burning through them very, very soon.
For more information, check out https://www.blackstarriders.com/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This
record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it
will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the
cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2021 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
