Lonerider – ‘Down In The Dust’

Classic Rock

Escape Music

Review By Smudge Smith

Where do I start with this? Well, my listening preferences have changed since I began writing reviews a decade ago. I hadn’t really heard much death metal or power metal and I’ve grown to love both genres but there is still a massive part of me that thoroughly enjoys those classic sounds of 70’s rock. I suppose it’s because I was brought up in the 70’s so those sounds were always on the radio.

Lonerider return with their third album and for me it’s their best so far. How can you fail with a band that consists of former Bad Company/Free/Wildlife drummer Simon Kirke, the golden throated Steve Overland from FM and Wildlife plus former Heartland/Shadowman guitarist Steve Morris and Thunder/Tyketto bassman Chris Childs. Let’s sit back, relax and let the sounds and the voice seep into us just like we used to do.

‘Shiver’ opens with a country lick and Overland’s trademark ‘woooah’ before they settle into a beautiful bluesy roller that has a warm Hammond courtesy of Steve Mann (MSG/Lionheart) adding some colour in the background. It’s classic Bad Co and could have been off their debut. ‘Three Steps Back’ rolls a little harder and has a wonderful bassline from Childs under a spidery riff but just wait for the pre-chorus, you’ll be singing it for days. Morris brings some tasty slide too. It’s blues ballad time on ‘Getting Closer’ where Overland gets up close and personal with a fantastic soulful vocal before the chorus which gets you hot under the collar. Morris brings out his acoustic and gives us some country picking on the intro to ‘Help Me Brother’ which goes from acoustic to electric on the chorus. ‘Gypsy Of The Highway’ brings some pure blues and has a touch of ‘Ready For Love’ about it before the soulful pair of ‘Broken Down Town’ and ‘Mystery Man’. It’s acoustic and piano on ‘Cool Hand’ with a massive nod to ‘Bad Company’ in theme. Yes, it gets rockier as it develops and is simply stunning. Let’s have some proper blues rock on ‘Back Behind The Wheel’ with Morris bringing his slide out again. It’s a story of bad behaviour and how it’s taking its toll. True story? Maybe? ‘Actions Speak Louder Than Words’ brings some blues/boogie before the radio friendly almost FM like ‘All Fired Up’ then album finale ‘Blue Collar Man’ is a wonderful slice of classic rock.

Jeez this is good. I honestly don’t know how Steve Overland does it. A new album from FM at the beginning of 2024, tours, a new album from his ‘Metal’ project Kings Of Mercia recently and now this. They are all super high quality. In the absence of Bad Company, Lonerider, are filling the void but – I don’t mean to be controversial – would Bad Co offer up anything as good as this? Let’s be content with this utterly superb album that – hopefully – will become a classic because it’s that good.

Track List –

Shiver

Three Steps Back

Getting Closer

Help Me Brother

Gypsy Of The Highway

Broken Down Town

Mystery Man

Cool Hand

Back Behind The Wheel

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

All Fired Up

Blue Collar Man