The history of Australian Hard Rock is legendry, from Cold Chisel, AC/DC, Airbourne, Wolfmother, The Angels, The Screaming Jets, The Choirboys, Rose Tattoo, the list goes on and one. Well, you can add STONETRIP to the list if they keep up this pace.
STONETRIP’S first full-length album “Run Free” is a top-notch quality album from Down Under. Great hooks, melodies and diversity in the songs makes this one a true “album” you used to hear back in the 70’s.
While it might not be heavy enough for the Metal crowd (and that’s ok), it will appeal to all of us who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s during the Golden Age of Rock N’ Roll. They’ve done what bands like THE ANSWER and RIVAL SONS have done by taking the traditional AOR sound and moving it forward.
STONETRIP do probably stay closer to the base material than most of their counterparts however. They’re blues-based hard rock, strait to the point. If I had to compare them, there’s a little bit of Jimmy Barnes in the vocals and style. They have some Bad Company in the mix probably, and some of the guitar riffs give a nod to the legendary AC/DC. But at the end of the day, STONETRIP are just a mega-talented rock band who are super tight and great song-writers.
Even though I’ve heard this sound before it’s very refreshing too. The production is modernized and beefed up a bit from back in the day, but they just do what they do very well and you have to appreciate that.
“Run Free” has 13 tracks too, all solid in their own way, there’s a few ballads a few mid-tempo rockers and the rest are just strait up rockers. Personally, my favs are “Dark Night”, “Sideways”, “Pretty Flowers”, “I Am Tomorrow” and “Runaway”. They’re most likely the heaviest too, but that’s just my personal taste.
When I rate albums I usually give points for originality, but in the case, they don’t need to be original, they’re just that dang good. I’m giving in it 8.5 out of 10 stars because of what I mentioned earlier, the diversity of the album, KILLER hooks and melodies and just an all-out solid effort.
