Black Star Riders - Wrong Side of Paradise
Flyctory.com Pros
- Some good songs
- Significant improvement compared to "Another State of Grace"
Flyctory.com Cons
- Still, not at their full (constant) potential
Wrong Side of Paradise is actually the second Black Star Riders album I share with you on Flyctory.com In September 2019, I featured Another State of Grace. Now, on 20th January 2023, the US hard rockers are back with eleven new tracks. Here is my review.
Black Star Riders – About The Artists
Quite a lot has happened to the Black Star Riders since their previous album in 2019. The most obvious change is that there are two new members apart from lead Ricky Warwick (vocals and guitars) and Robbie Crane (bass): Sam Wood joined the Black Star Riders as a guitarist in 2022, while Zak St. John, the new drummer, has been added to the lineup the year before. Similar to the albums before, the Black Star Riders have been more popular in Europe with Another State of Grace than in their US home. The album was Top 30 in Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. You can find additional band bio in its Flyctory.com review. Wrong Side of Paradise is thus the fifth Black Star Riders album overall.
Black Star Riders – Wrong Side of Paradise – Track by Track
The eleven song album lasts 41 minutes.
1. Wrong Side of Paradise
The opening title track comes with a typical BSR sound: guitar-driven hard rock with a nice, clear groove. You know what you get when you listen to these guys – even after they replaced half of the band. The chorus has a nice melody. Very nice listen.
2. Hustle
Hustle is a bit slower, but also feels more massive than the opener. The harmonica souds leads to a Southern rock touch and reminds of some Tom Petty recordings. Stomping groove, marching straight forward. The chorus cannot fully keep up with that in my point of view.
3. Better Than Saturday Night
Better Than Saturday Night has been the first appetizer for Black Star Riders fans. Indeed, the third track is one of the album’s highlights. The song is a very catching and straight rock recording. Still not as good as the very first songs of the band, but a really nice listen.
4. Riding Out the Storm
The fourth track feels a bit more gentle. Bassist Robbie Crane has qute some presence in this song as well and conrtols the groove of the song. Especially around the chorus, the song is beautifully arranged.
5. Pay Dirt
Ricky Warwick and his bandmates perform one of the most angry and most rocking songs of the album there. Zak St. John has to hammer his drumsticks into the drumheads steadily, the lead vocalist is singing and shouting the Black Star Riders to high hard rock speheres. Very interesting listen.
6. Catch Yourself On
Even though this song is surrounded by songs picked for single releases, I have to state that Catch Yourself On is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It might come with rather simple structures, but I feel it is a great stadium rocker which quickly stays in your mind. Glad to feel that these guys still can do it.
7. Crazy Horses
The Crazy Horses incept with screaming guitars and powerful riffs. The last song which has already been shared with the fans is rather short (2:25 minutes), but definitely leaves a mark with its striking energy.
8. Burning Rome
I’m coming home and I’m burning Rome – not sure of they like this kind of music over there in Italy? The song has a nice blues-ish vibe. The laid back sound adds a nice alternative style to the release.
9. Don’t Let the World (Get in the Way)
The fast ninth song is one of these hidden gems of the album, whcih might not be obvious top choices in the first listen. I guess that BSR and their fans will party this one, when the band is heading to a U.K. Tour in February 2023 – unfortunately, the dates don’t match for me with my Weird Al European Tour plans. Would love to the the Riders live as well.
10. Green and Troubled Land
Green and Troubled Land is the longest song of the album. The song feels comparably and almost has radio qualities – if there wasn’t the five minute duration. What doesn’t make you stronger will klll you in the end – not the most optimistic way to look at things. The song has a nice vibe, but could be even more present.
11. This Life Will Be the Death of Me
The closing track cannot really persuade me. The song is nicely recorded and has a nice groove. However, I don’t see too many catching elements in it. The song is too plain in my point of view.
Black Star Riders – Wrong Side of Paradise – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Black Star Riders – Wrong Side of Paradise – My View
Compared to the predecessor, the Black Star Riders definitely took a major step forward again. Not all eleven songs on the album are good listens, but the album has some really nice highlights. Unfortunately, this also means that the BSR are still not yet at their high level of potential – or do I simply overestimate them? Hope that the next album will tell the answer.
Media Reviews – US Hard Rock / Heavy Metal
Here are all my hard rock / heavy metal postings in the Media Reviews related to the USA:
Let's close the weekend with some goth metal. On 1st November 2024, the US-American project Neon Nightmare released their debut ...
Zealot is the debut album of the band Dead Icarus. However, some band members have quite a history in the metal ...
Time for some thrash metal on Flyctory.com again: on 25th October 2024, Enforced has released their new EP A Leap ...
I rarely run into music from South Africa. Even though Seether is nowadays based in the United States, I was ...
In my Wednesday's album posts, I typically preview albums which are about to released the following Friday. However, this time ...
The US-American rock band The Mercury Riots has released their debut album In Solstice on 21st June 2024. I had the ...
Atlantis Drive is a brand new hard rock band. The roots are from Germany, but the band features international band ...
If you read the band name Folterkammer, which is German and translates to "Torture Chamber", you rather think that this ...
Necrot is a metal band from the San Francisco Bay region. On 12th April 2024, the US-American trio is releasing ...
On 8th March 2024, the death metal band Skeletal Remains are releasing a new album. After the US-American band has ...
If you don't find a title for your EP, you're in trouble... Just take the genre and make the letters ...
American Gothic is already the fifth studio album by the US-American band Wayfarer. I had the opportunity to listen to their ...
With the mid-September 2023 single release The Better Me featuring country rocker HARDY, I felt that The Surface by Beartooth could definitely ...
Including his 1970's band releases, Road is already the 29th studio album by rock legend Alice Cooper. However, this "solo" release is ...
It's four songs on an EP, but also a teaser towards more material. The metalcore band Atreyu releases The Moment ...
You might not know the the rock / hard rock project Mammoth WVH yet. However, once you know that WVH ...
Learning by reviewing: I have to admit that I haven't been aware of the heavy metal subgenre of sludge metal, ...
It took the duo 1476 six years to release a new album. The US-American project publishes In Exile on 7th July ...
Chronicles Of The Kid is a typical Flyctory.com album review. I scanned new releases in a promotion platform and stopped by ...
In 1991, there was a band from Boston who stormed the international charts with a song: More Than Words. Extreme released ...
Ray Alder has been working as a vocalist and percussionist for several bands. In 2019, he released his first solo ...
Sacred & Profane is the debut album by the two person-driven US band Oryad. I received it quite a while before ...
War Remains is the third album of the US band Enforced. The press kit promises 32 minutes of aggressive, no frills ...
Most people associate the abbreviation THC with Tetrahydrocannabinol, a psychoactive Cannabinoid. However, you can have a lot of fun with ...
The press kit to their new album Outsider calls Night Demon an "institution". At least the Californian heavy metal band grew a ...
They recorded songs like Bling Bling Marilyn or Drip Drip Baby - and I simply love them. I ran into John Diva & ...
Suicide Silence are definitely one of the most successful deathcore bands in the world. The quintet of the Californian band ...
Their last album was simply called Heavy Metal Rules - now Steel Panther is back with a new album. On 24th February ...
Pawns & Kings is already the seventh album by the rock band Alter Bridge. Songs like Isolation (2010) paved the band's path to ...
The metal guys with the mask... No, I am not talking about my beloved monsters Lordi, but about Slipknot. The ...
The US-American death metal band I Am already releases their third album. I received Eternal Steel rather early, well before ...
I guess it is hard to argue against when somebody calls Megadeth a legendary heavy metal band. The US-American act ...
Just one week after I featured Motionless In White in my weekly edition of Songs of the Week, the band is ...
Papa Roach are on the final straight to complete their (first?) thirty years of band history in 2023. On 8th ...
Some two years after I reviewed his album Shapeshifting, Joe Satriani is back with a new album, Elephants of Mars. I was ...
Sunrunner call their music "heavy prog-rock". Thus, this review of their 2022 album Sacred Arts of Navigation feels to be a ...
About a year ago, I reviewed Dream in Motion by Crowbar's singer Kirk Windstein. On 4th March 2022, it has been ...
Corey Taylor does not really feel to be sufficiently busy. Being the lead singer of two major bands in the ...
The promotion package I received for Matt Pike's album Pike vs. the Automaton states "Matt Pike wrote new rules for the ...
Nashville is Music City - not Country Music City. Even though there is a dominating genre, the city attracts many ...
Time for the hard guitar sounds: Once Human is releasing their third album Scar Weaver on 11th Feburary 2022. Five years after ...
SMKC is a magical abbreviation in rock music business. It merges guitar giant slash, legendary Myles Kennedy and band member ...
According to the press kit, the metal magazine Metal Injection named Great American Ghost and their music "Always hateful, always ...
Hard rock from Tennessee: the band Skillet is releasing their eleventh studio album on 14th January 2022. Here is my ...
Alcatrazz had a couple of break-ups and hiatuses during their song history. Since their founding in 1983, they were active ...
"We just want to be heavy and create fun" - that's how Creeping Death describe themselves in the press information ...
A new album from All Good Things after some four years of absence in the record store with a very ...
Cool hard rock with Californian roots: via promotion agencies, I ran into Hellbound by the band Buckcherry. The band is ...
Pop Evil are definitely in the top spheres of the US hard rock scene. Their album regularly hit upper rankings ...
It has been quite amazing for me to read that The Bitter Truth is only the fifth studio album by the ...
As frequent readers of Flyctory.com might now, I do keep a certain mental distance to press releases and press kits ...
Some new tunes by A Day To Remember: the US rockers released You're Welcome, their latest album, on 5th March ...
Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders - Damon Johnson has indeed worked with some of the really big names ...
Covid-19 has some weird impacts: as a major German pressing plant had to reduce operation due to the pandemic, a ...
Hair Metal - the fusion of pop and metal is a genre for some quite strange - but successful - ...
When a Rock'n'Rock Hall of Famer (which he was inducted to in 2014 as original KISS member) is releasing a ...
It is really tough to select the right achievement to describe Joe Satriani's career in one fact. Over ten million ...
I happened to run into the front lady of the Seven Spires, Adrienne Cowan, when Tobias Sammet chose her as ...
What does a musician give himself best as a birthday present? Richie Kotzen went for a new album on 3rd ...
24th January 2020 felt to be the "Metal Heroes do solo album" day of the year. Shortly after I had ...
If you record songs like Death to All But Metal or Bukkake Tears and you do it good, you may make it big ...
I saw the Black Star Rides some years ago as a support act of Def Leppard and Whitesnake on their ...
Travel Top Pick!s in the United Kingdom
Here are all my travel reviews related to the United Kingdom, which received a Top Pick! rating:
One of the most legendary soccer events in my (always a bit broken) 1. FC Köln (Cologne) sports heart was ...
Even though I already had a couple of flights from Newcastle Airport (NCL), I never shared my lounge experience from ...
Opting for American Airlines over British Airways when flying from London-Heathrow (LHR) to the United States has a key advantage: ...
Blackpool is indeed an entertainment city. In summer, people are crowding the place and enjoying all the beach attractions as ...
In order to cover the Jenn Bostic show in London in February 2024, I was looking for a hotel in ...
After my stay at the Adagio Hotel Bremen in 2023, I really had a certain traveller's crush on the aparthotel ...
Since 2007, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland in London has become a more and more growing Christmas and winter tradition ...
Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport (LHR) is something like the safe haven for British Airways Executive Club (BAEC) status customers ...
Being in Crawley near Gatwick Airport (LGW) by rental car gave me the opportunity to visit the Gatwick Aviation Museum ...
It's alredaxy quite long ago since I visited Blackpool the last time. End of February is not the typical time ...
When you think about water and river cruises in London, you likely think about the boat trips on the River ...
Having a musical night in London in August 2023, I needed an affordable overnight with good connections to the London ...
A paid upgrade in March 2023 finally gave me the opportunity to try out the "new luxury" of British Airways: ...
My wife and I really enjoyed our trip to Cyprus in October 2022. So far, I have introduced you to ...
After I made you familiar with Swingers, the "Crazy Golf" provider in the heart of London recently, I just felt ...
It is hard to argue against that the Sofitel London Heathrow is the most convenient option when you need a ...
Visiting London in late November 2022, my wife and I were aiming to do some things outside the Christmas tourism ...
Flying back home from a Rock of Ages show weekend in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, I was really amazed ...
In June 2022, I had a night at the Premier Inn London Paddington Basin. The booking was quite short-noticed after ...
For a Saturday evening show at The O2 in London, I have been looking for a reasonably priced hotel with ...
Quite some hectic a few weeks before I actually visited my favorite musical Rock of Ages again. After the show has been ...
The Gloster Aircraft Company (the original name has been Gloucestershire Aircraft Company) has been active from 1917 to 1961. The most ...
240 meters above The Jumeirah Palm in Dubai - The View At The Palm is one of the latest attractions ...
The Northern Ireland conflict - or simply called The Troubles is one of the most intense civil conflicts I experienced during ...
During a prolonged stop-over at Manchester Airport, I grabbed a rental car for a day and did some sightseeing in ...
It used to be the Millennium Wheel, turned to be the British Airways London Eye and now it is the ...
The limited travel intensity during summer and fall 2020 lead to some interesting budget travel opportunities. During a trip to ...
You might find this statement multiple times within my December 2020 postings - but A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is ...
I would say that the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminal 2/3 has been one of the ...
As I delayed some reviews after I saw that Covid-19 will have a significant impact on us and our travel ...
The De Havilland company is a huge name in the aviation history, especially regarding British aviation history. Close to the ...
In order to see one edition of the "Introducing Nashville" show (I have been on Tenerife during the German ones), ...
As the RMS Titanic and her sister vessel, the RMS Olympic, were too large to call directly at the harbor of Cherbourg, ...
If I would turn Flyctory.com into a food blog, I am sure it would be a terrible fail. Nevertheless, there ...
I am sure you know all the details (non-fictional and dramatic ones) about the tragic end of the RMS Titanic ...
Barra Airport is a very special place for any aviation enthusiasts: the airport located on the largest island of the ...
Flying to Barra - an aviation nerd's dream came true on 7th September 2019, when I visited the Scottish Island ...
I was visiting Belfast in later June 2019 in order to watch some shows of my favorite musical, Rock of ...
During my March 2019 stay in Oxford, I also had the chance to explore at least some sights of the ...
Flying back from the Write Like A Girl event in London, I had the opportunity to fly Sun-Air of Scandinavia for ...
Beefeater Gin is one of the most well-known and popular gins of the world. Despite the destillation takes places in ...
Watching Mike & the Mechanics in the lovely City Hall was the event which made me travel to Sheffield. The city ...
Ever dreamed of becoming a fire fighter or a policeman? Maybe the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield is the ...
Glasgow is becoming a more and more frequent destination for me. Very often, my visits are linked to music. For ...
After my 2018 debut at the London Country 2 Country and the first-time German event in Berlin the weekend before, ...
A couple of music and theater events made me travel to Glasgow a couple of times in the recent past ...
Something we all have in common is that we went to school - at least for a certain time. The ...
I love musicals in general - but two ones massively influenced my life. The first one was We will rock ...
I have to give in: I am a Manchester United follower (fan would be too much) since the 1990s. In ...
Liverpool has been one of the most important European cities for slavery trade. Thus, I used my September visit at ...
With my favourte musical, Rock of Ages, touring again through the UK, just a week after I saw Catherine McGrath ...
British Airways flight BA 1 has always been on my bucket list. The very special connection between London and New ...
by 
