Genre - Hard Rock
Track listing:
01. A Hole
02. This Song Reminds Me of You
03. Beg Borrow Steal
04. Fool Around
05. Get That Girl
06. Head Hanging Low
07. Fork in the Road
08. Little Motor Sister
09. Pretty in the Morning
10. Whore
11. Doghouse
12. Devil Wind
Remember Mother Superior? The L.A. band whose members appear on a ton of session / live work with some of L.A.'s most famous acts as backing band, and still found time to release 8 albums on their own from ’93 to ’08.
Anthrax's master axe man Scott Ian does. He is a huge fan of the Mother Superior, as is his wife singer Pearl Aday (Meat Loaf's daughter) who has been working with MS guitarist / vocalist Jim Wilson. Ian's 50th birthday is coming up. What does he want for his birthday? Mother Superior.
One thing leads to another and Ian, Aday and Wilson put together a birthday jam band. The gala is hit, friend musicians and record companies invited, and Metal Blade Records said, 'If you record something, we'll releasing it'.
Then MOTOR SISTER is born, and "Ride" is their debut CD.
So "Ride" features 12 Mother Superior songs, reworked and re-arranged by Jim Wilson who originally penned most of these tunes back in a day. They recruited Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning) on bass and kick ass drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, ex-Testament) on drums and the group was set.
If you are looking for Anthrax-style riffs, you will be sorely disappointed.
What you will find, however, are some straight-to-the-gut, blues-laced hard rockers, and some more laid back songs as well, all wrapped by a Classic Rock sound & feel - this is why it's featured here :)
The trio of tracks which kicks off the album are high energy hard / classic rock numbers with a steady pace and catchy hooks, almost with a radio friendly tinge to it. "A-Hole" starts all with a cool groove and one hell of a guitar solo. It’s a true classic rocker.
Then "This Song Reminds Me of You" is much more melodic, where the harmonies between Wilson and Aday are impressive. The guitar solo, once again, smokes.
"Beg, Borrow, Steal" continues the vibe over a groovy riff, classy vocals, and a thunderous rhythm section. All sounds like these guys have played together for a long time, as everything sounds extremely tight.
"Fool Around" takes the pace down into more bluesy territory in a semi-ballad song. The band handles really well this type of song considering their backgrounds. The twin vocals of Jim / Pearl shine together and it is a shame that it isn't more prominent throughout.
"Head Hanging Low" is a summer song which has a Californian surf feel to it, with a funky-blues backbone casting up images of sun soaked beaches and calm seas.
"Get That Girl", "Fork In The Road" and "Little Motor Sister" bring back the ass-kicking, groove oriented guitar Classic Rock sound. It's strange (or maybe not) many of this material reminds me some Glenn Hughes solo material.
Closer "Devil Wind" has more than a passing resemblance to Fleetwood Mac’s 'Big Love', a superb end track and one that would leave you wondering what this collection of musicians could do if writing a fresh album of material.
Considering the speed of the appearance of the album from formation to completion, "Ride" is a top notch production and an album that will appeal to Classic Rock fans worldwide and prick the interest of the thrash and metal fans to see what these guys have conjured up.
I think part of the success of Motor Sister is the 'instantaneity'. Sure, these songs were already written and they know them in detail, but I mean, these guys recorded this CD in the way it used to be forty years ago: in a week, playing a lot 'live in the studio' and retaining the 'heat'.
This is good, energetic Classic Rock / Hard with swagger and one hell of attitude.
Well worth checking out!
Rating - 8/10
