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| Damon Johnson, Scott Gorham, Ricky Warwick, Marco Mendoza, Jimmy DeGrasso |
Black Star Riders is my pick for band of the year in 2013. They actually formed officially at the end of 2012. Their debut album All Hell Breaks Loose is my pick for album of the year. To discuss this incredible band, I first have to give props to one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Thin Lizzy, and to one of the greatest frontmen of all time, Phil Lynott.
Black Star Riders rose from the ashes of Thin Lizzy.
If ever there were a band that could fill the void left behind by Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders is that band. Led by former and long-time Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, Black Star Riders features an all-star lineup that rocks the fucking house. With Ricky Warwick on vocals and guitar, Damon Johnson (alongside Scott Gorham) on lead guitar, the incomparable Marco Mendoza on bass, and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums, this band is in top form and unstoppable.
I'm billing this band as the evolution of Thin Lizzy. Not a copy of Thin Lizzy, mind you. Black Star Riders are the rightful heir to the Thin Lizzy throne. This band, in my opinion, is the legitimate next generation of Thin Lizzy.
The songs on All Hell Breaks Loose have a Thin Lizzy sound but exhibit orginality as well. Bound for Glory, Hey Judas, and Kissin' the Ground especially blew me away. Most of the songwriting was done by Damon Johnson and Ricky Warwick, demonstrating these guys are capable of delivering the goods. Any of the songs on this album could have been on a new Thin Lizzy record and Phil Lynott would have been proud. The guys, however, chose not to record under the Thin Lizzy name out of respect to Phil. A wise decision for sure, and in the end, I believe that decision lends more credibility to the work.
Black Star Riders is a band I hope to see and hear for some time to come.
The track list is as follows:
| 1. | "All Hell Breaks Loose" | Ricky Warwick, Damon Johnson, Scott Gorham, Marco Mendoza, Darren Wharton | 4:15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | "Bound for Glory" | Warwick, Johnson | 4:08 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | "Kingdom of the Lost" | Warwick, Johnson | 4:43 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4. | "Bloodshot" | Gorham, Warwick, Johnson | 4:02 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5. | "Kissin' the Ground" | Warwick, Johnson, Marti Frederikson | 3:06 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6. | "Hey Judas" | Warwick, Johnson, Gorham | 4:11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7. | "Hoodoo Voodoo" | Warwick, Johnson | 4:15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8. | "Valley of the Stones" | Warwick, Johnson, Gorham | 4:15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9. | "Someday Salvation" | Warwick, Johnson | 3:05 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10. | "Before the War" | Warwick, Johnson | 3:39 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 11. | "Blues Ain't So Bad"
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