{"id":18626,"date":"2014-05-23T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T00:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18626"},"modified":"2014-06-10T20:15:42","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T20:15:42","slug":"album-review-mother-road-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-mother-road-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"MOTHER ROAD – Drive (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOTHER ROAD
Drive<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRoad Songs \/ AOR Heaven (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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As \u2018The Sun Will Shine Again\u2019 flitters into the ears like a masterful Led Zeppelin<\/a> acoustic ditty, I\u2019m suddenly reminded of how great some modern music can be. More so when the track kicks into a Guns N\u2019 Roses-type swagger, and what better way for Mother Road to introduce themselves?<\/p>\n

Drive<\/em> is the debut opus from this melodic rock band and features the songwriting partnership of Berlin-based guitarist Chris Lyne (ex-Soul Doctor) and American vocalist Keith Slack (ex-Steelhouse Lane, Michael Schenker Group, Mudpie). With such talents on show one can expect great things from Mother Road, a soulful rock act who effortlessly slip between blues-twanged reflection and straight up hip-shaking rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. <\/p>\n

The band formed in 2011 and also features drummer Zacky Tsoukas, bassist Frank Binke and Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards \/ organ, who has worked with numerous bands over the years as a producer and musician. It\u2019s no surprise then that Mother Road\u2019s debut offering is a driving, hard-edged, throbbing chunk of heavy rock reliant on those soaring vocals, precise thudding drums, and catchy hooks sporadically laced with a bubbling organ.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned \u2018The Sun Will Shine Again\u2019 is an immense way to begin a record as it tiptoes in true Zeppelin-ish style along the threads of an acoustic guitar, and then the booming introduction of cascading drum and hip-shaking riff. \u201cTell me baby, what\u2019s the world comin\u2019 to now,\u201d<\/em> asks Slack in confident fashion as he leads us into this energetic, cock-sure record of beefy tunes and crafty musicianship that slips with ease between the funky grooves of \u2018Feather In Your Hat\u2019, with its robust organ, and the bluesy confines of \u2018Drive Me Crazy\u2019, which begins with a smokin\u2019 solo one would come to associate with the late Gary Moore. Again, vocally this is sweltering as the drum throbs and the organ smirks in the distance. <\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the combo takes us through some real rock \u2019n\u2019 roll belters such as the riff-heavy \u2018Out Of My Mind\u2019 with its Black Crowes-style of boastfulness and honky-tonk piano clatter. While \u2018These Shoes\u2019 is more reflective and subtle, such lower tempo harmonies are just as rootsy as their rockier companions, but just like the magic Led Zeppelin offered, Mother Road are also able to take the rough with the smooth. The band lead us through lighter shades before striking us hard with a killer riff or crashing drum, all marrying to accompany an infectious chorus, and \u2018These Shoes\u2019 is typical of that \u2013 hinting at early Whitesnake \u2013 with \u2018Dirty Little Secret\u2019 hinting at similar pastures. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m also reminded of the now sadly forgotten Badlands who featured Jake E. Lee (guitar) and the late Ray Gillen (vocals) \u2013 the mix of soul and swagger working wondrously as Mother Road cruise through the twang of \u2018Blue Eyes\u2019 and the stripped back sway of \u2018On My Way\u2019, with its raw croon and breezy acoustic before unexpectedly exploding into life as another Zeppelin-inspired masterpiece of bluesy riffs and orgasmic organ.<\/p>\n

This is a cracking debut album for those of you who require a soundtrack to those sun-drenched days where sitting on the porch and swigging beer is the only way. Drive<\/em> is a cool cat of an opus from its shoes to its soul.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOTHER ROADDrive Road Songs \/ AOR Heaven (2014)Rating: 8\/10 As \u2018The Sun Will Shine Again\u2019 flitters into the ears like a masterful Led Zeppelin acoustic ditty, I\u2019m suddenly reminded of how great some modern music can be. More so when the track kicks into a Guns N\u2019 Roses-type swagger, and what better way for Mother […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-mother-road"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18626"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18949,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18626\/revisions\/18949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}