The Official BLACK STONE CHERRY Thread

[Andy92]

Even the ballads on their last album are vastly better than this.

[DonHarry]

I'll be honest, I quite liked Runaway. Never surrender would have been better if I hadn't watched the cringy video that went with it. Me & MJ has grown on me a little and the chorus of Fiesta is catchy but ultimately everything is watered down to the point of disappointment. It's a travesty.

[devv88]

Pretty sad that this is the best song from the album so far. It's still so lifeless.

[BSC]

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news ... erry-album

The album can now be streamed, it's pretty terrible. There aren't many memorable moments at all, although there are some cool instrumental sections, but they're overshadowed by the dreadful lyrics and shitty melodies. Some of the verse to chorus transitions are just awkward.

Sometimes and Remember Me are the only songs that I really want to listen to again. The guitars sound like they've been recorded underwater, Chris cannot write a decent melody to save his life, there's weed references everywhere on this album. The Southern flair that was on previous albums which made BSC unique is lacking. Instrumentally it's much better than their last album, but overall it's so embarrassing but I think it may be worse than their third album, which is funny considering when the third album was released I couldn't think they could do any worse. The album is dull, lifeless and bland. I might like it after a while, but I'm not in a hurry to listen to it again.

[devv88]

Looks like it was taken down. Getting a page not found error.

EDIT: It's still there: http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news ... erry-album.

Occurs to me that this is the same link that you posted. Weird.

[devv88]

About halfway through it now. I actually don't think it's terrible. It's significantly better than the last album - the melodies might be trite and boring, but they're at least a step back in the right direction. Instrumentals are better, too. I think they released all of the worst songs from the album upfront. "Magic Mountain" and "Bad Luck" aren't bad at all. And regardless of how terrible the lyrics are in "Blow My Mind", the song itself is catchy and reminds me a lot of FOLKLORE.

That being said, I probably won't buy it. But it's better than I expected, considering how unbelievably low my expectations were.

[anguyen92]

Taking a listen to it now. I probably type my thoughts as the album goes along. The intro is a good start.

Peace Pipe's lyrics is trying to force itself to be like Peace is Free, but that's not going to have that effect that Peace is Free had on my 1st listen, sadly.

I like the intro of Bad Luck & Hard Love. It's that kind of sound that they should continue exploring. How many times have they used the phrase, "Muddy Waters" in their songs? This is probably the 2nd time I found it.

Me and Mary Jane. Another solid song, instrumentally, but some of the lyrics and the music video that came with it kinda drags the song down. I'll still listen to this on a frequent basis though.

After another listen to Runaway, it's pretty good. It reminds me of Tremonti's New Way Out.

The title track is probably the most enjoyable song I have heard so far. It's got that fun vibe at the right places.

I think from my impressions so far, I think Roadrunner made a bit of a misfire and gave the green light and previewed the wrong songs after Me and Mary Jane as evident in Never Surrender which is a bit meh.

Hmmmm, I'm sensing an obvious theme with these songs as evident in Blow My Mind. Another strong song, instrumentally, but I'm not really digging the getting high references. It works for a while, but then it gets starting a bit tedious.

Sometimes is a standard acoustic ballad, but works a bit better than Runaway.

Fiesta Del Fuego. See my thoughts on Never Surrender. The lyric video that came with the song does not really enhance the song that much. It is high-energy. I'll give them that.

Another good intro in Dance Girl. Let's see how this progresses. Maybe this is me, but it's kinda telling if a song is not great if Chris Robertson uses a vocal effect in the verse.

Good solid song in Hollywood in Kentucky. I wouldn't mind if it was the ending song. I dig the last bits of it that has that jam vibe to it.

Oh, I didn't know there was one more. A 6. min song? Hmmm, let's see how they tackle it. All right, it's solid. The chorus reminds me Shinedown's Fake from Us and Them (good sign). Hmmm, it does feeling like a good final song of the album though. Good stuff. Mehhhh, I'm not digging the slow fading out effect for the last 1:15 of the song.

All right, overall, I like it. 8/10. Sure there is some moments that drags it down, but this makes an easy 2nd favorite album that I have listened to.

[Andy92]

Gave the album a listen tonight. It's not quite as bad as I thought it'd be. Lyrics are the worst Chris has ever written, but I think it's a pretty killer record instrumentally. I actually don't have much of an issue with the record sonically...think they recorded it to tape if I'm not mistaken. If the album had an overhaul on the lyrics and melodies, it'd have the potential to be really good. All the weed/partying references just get old. I can't figure out who to blame for the lyrical content...Chris, the label, or a mixture.

There are definitely certain songs that stand out above the rest. It'll take me a few listens to let everything sink in. Sometimes was the big standout though.

[julio]

Label had little influence with this album. So, this is all BSC.

I am in the minority, but I preferred the Howard Benson version of BSC.

[GazEd]

I am not inclined to overthink. I like this album very much.

[BSC]

I'm now on the fence with this album, it's not terrible as I originally said, but I don't know how I'd rank it in comparison with their previous work. It's all BSC, but yet it doesn't have much of why I actually got into BSC in the first place, there's none of that Southern flair going on, no real groove which was present in stuff like Maybe Someday and Soulcreek, no decent lyrics or melodies.

Holding On is cool, already it's already losing it's staying power

Peace Pipe, the verses are cool, but the chorus and lyrics really lets this song. Instrumentally it's good.

Bad Luck, I think this one is forgettable, nothing too bad about it, but I'm not in a hurry to listen to it

Me and Mary Jane is good, but it's a bit too generic and cliché. Lyrics are shit too.

Runaway is forgettable as well.

Magic Mountain, I like this song, the lyrics could be better, but they're not terrible

Never Surrender, I like it.

Blow My Mind, once again a good song, the lyrics let it down, but they're not as bad as Mary Jane or Peace Pipe

Sometimes, I do like this song, it's nice to have a ballad that isn't their stereotypical one like Runaway

Fiesta del Fuego, the lyrics are really really shit, the song is almost unlistenable.

Dance Girl, instrumentally it's great, the lyrics once again leave a lot to be desired though

Hollywood in Kentucky, no thanks.

Remember Me, it's the best song on the album, instrumentally it's good and the lyrics aren't strikingly bad.

It seems that most of the songs that are decent instrumentally are let down by the lyrics, this album is such a weak effort from Chris. Overall, it's not a terrible album, but there's a lot of weak points on the album and it lacks a lot of what I liked from BSC in the first place.

[Outright]

Awful.


Hollywood in Kentucky and Remember Me are the only tracks that stood out besides the first single. Everything else was just post grunge rock that I've heard many times already.

[DonHarry]

Bought the album to support them. Had a few listens, most of the tunes are catchy but like others have said, the lyrics leave a lot to be desired and the whole vibe is too soft and un-edgy. It's all a far cry from BSC and Folklore. It's a decent listen and the grooves have been stuck in my head a bit, it's just not on par with their earlier material. That said they still do one hell of a live show and I'm sure a couple of songs from MM will compliment their set.

[Kreuger33]

I listened to it once and some of the riffs were cool but nothing stuck.

[Outright]

I still can't get over Remember Me. It has such a vintage Black Stone Cherry feel to it, so what the hell happened to the rest of the album?

[BSC]

Just got tickets to see these guys in October for my birthday. The new songs should come across a lot better live, it'll be the 5th time I see them, it's always a good show.

[antiwal]

Oh dear, what's happened to BSC? Something has been lost or missing with this 4th release. Its not a bad album, just very average. The guitaring is decent but the melodies have gone and there's no real hook to any song. It's just a bit....boring. I just hope this grows with time but I'm not sure. A far cry from Folklore and Superstition

[anguyen92]

Here's an acoustic version of Me And Mary Jane. Good stuff.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/iRcVXFcmPcY[/youtube]

Also on how the album is doing, I heard from the Download Festival Forums that this album was charted #5 in the 1st week of UK charts (as a reference, Fortress was charted #6, though the actual album sales may say differently) and the posters said that they enjoy it, compared to the last one.

According this, http://www.metalinsider.net/columns/met ... -this-week

They sold 12.6k copies and was #22 on the Billboard Charts (that didn't beat Fortress).

[Lukeage]

I still rushed out on its release day to buy the album here in Australia...

I have mixed feelings.

Songs like Me & Mary Jane are great, where they did something different, less of the big choruses and more of the hard hits and just something that they haven't really done before but a lot of it is just kinda like "yeah it's BSC, it's good enough, it's listen-able, but there's something missing."

I have to say that overall I prefer Between the Devil... to this. But my favourite BSC album remains Folklore & Superstition. I think based on the last 2 albums, they'll never top that.

[vChris]

I don't think it's too bad.
Not as good as Folklore and Superstition but not as horrible as some seem to think.

Although to be honest I haven't paid much attention to the lyrics as of yet. Seeing as it would be necessary to more or less concentrate, I tend to ignore them when I first listen to an album. Lazy me.