Roadrunner Records
2008
Folklore And Superstition
About This Album
For all its spirited, hard-hitting performances and wide-eyed country boy attitude, Black Stone Cherry's eponymous debut still gave off a faintly fishy smell of new millennium corporate rock, with certain icy guitar tones and aluminum-plated vocal textures sounding more like Nickelback or Shinedown than honest-to-goodness Southern rock. Even so, the band's natural songwriting instincts and overall precociousness (all four were barely past the age of twenty at the time) were enough to convince most listeners that BSC's hearts were in the right place, and that perhaps it was only a matter of time and experience before their legitimate Kentucky roots rose to the surface. Those hopes are satisfied, in part, by 2008's sophomore release, Folklore and Superstition, which sure feels more like a product of the band's own creative viewpoint (as opposed to their handlers'), but doesn't quite fulfill the earthy, Southern rock promises made by its title and accompanying swamp-and-moonshine CD art. If anything, Folklore and Superstition's production (courtesy of the experienced Bob Marlette -- Alice Cooper, Saliva, etc.) might be cleaner and sleeker than its predecessor's, pushing crisp melodies and anthemic choruses -- not to mention rather startling background gang-vocals -- to the fore on fist-pumping singles candidates like "Blind Man" and "Soulcreek," plus more romantic fare like the memorable "Please Come In.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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