Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

What to play?

To record their third studio full-length work, the Black Stone Cherry quartet left the homeland of the South to stay a while in LA. Here, they were met by the sound-recording guru Howard Benson. With this experienced man on their side, the band made an album that would seem quite a logical continuation to what they had done before. Their debut effort was a recapitulation of Southern school rock. On their second, they got a little bit heavier to get themselves slightly closer to pop-rock format. And their third studio work, the one we are discussing, featured Black Stone Cherry balancing between these two margins as they offer quite a good synthesis of the styles they tried before. Referring to old phraseology, they called the new CD Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. Should it be taken as a hint at their interesting situation? What of the rockers just have not yet decided whether they got to play older rock or keep moving toward modern influences? The album under question looks rather like a compromise.

Matters of originality and conformity

The opening track, White Trash Millionaire, sounds as if snatched from the self-titled debut by Black Stone Cherry. This is a piece of well-performed guitar stuff with a simple tune that makes you learn the words quickly and get to singing along. Although the album stores some other songs of the same category (Killing Floor, Such A Shame, Change are to be named here), the listener will also discover tracks of a different kind just as well. Apart from the abovementioned songs in the vein of the first record, Black Stone Cherry have a wide range of material which sounds as if it was penned but never played by Nickelback. Just listen to Like I Roll or Won’t Let Go, and you’ll know what is meant by it. Of course, every good rock album has at least one worthy ballad, and here the part of a quality low-tempo song is entrusted to All I’m Dreamin’ Of. It is not only music that entered the process of changing, but also the band’s lyrics. There are still some tracks bearing stories of ordinary people through which the life of the whole country unfolds. These stories once were the core of Black Stone Cherry music, which distinguished them from other performers. However, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea no longer relies on this foundation. Tracks like Blame It On The Boom Boom or Let Me See You Shake do not convey any thought-provoking message and fill be recognized by those only who like music for solely music and prefer not to occupy their minds with words.

Sacrifices at the altar of fame

On Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, once an original ensemble, Black Stone Cherry could not refuse to join the cohort of most established rock acts. The Americans did not spare their music selves trading them for the place in the elite. Instead of originality, they offered a remarkably increased execution level and hit-laden album. Indeed, the vocals grew more confident and variegated, which made it possible to record them more clearly and distinctly. Guitars are louder and heavier with distortion effects all over the place, another hard-rock signature. This is going to be well assimilated on the stage and radio. These patterns are effective and efficient tools applied by numerous star performers. At the same time, using the same instruments, they become more like one another and less like themselves. Finally, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea from Black Stone Cherry offers quite a high level stuff which is more likely to please rock fans in general rather than the band’s old supporters.