Back On The Rock

Ravenstone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• Original Release Date: May 17, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Prince Avenue Records
• ASIN: B0009PX634
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,625,827 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Editor's Review, download.com, June 2005

The hottest new band in Athens is one of the oldest. Their sound illuminates that of stars like Widespread Panic.

Product Description

BACK ON THE ROCK is a hookfest of loose, funked-up dance rock. It manages the rare hat trick of drawing on a myriad of musical influences without sounding quite like any of them.

The band's roots rock, blues and British first wave pedigree blends with old school soul flourishes, most noticeable in producer Jim Boling's seamless horn arrangements on "Oilman," a realpolitik name check on George Bush, Martha Stewart and prison sex, and "John Burrows Died For Our Sins," a rockabilly shout out on the perils of Elvis-size fame.

Framed by lead guitarist Butch Blasingame's blistering work, the band's rhythm section - bassist Dwight Brown, drummer Bill Wilson and guitarist and keyboardist Ralph Towler - are superb throughout. Frontman Michael Simpson's distinctive baritone and playful falsetto leaps propel the excitement.

The album opens with the radio-friendly "Drivin' By Braille," a swaggering, up-tempo jangle that shows these guys still know how to kick a party. The band next works its mojo with the blues and soul-tinged "Girl With Something Extra," a song anchored on Towler's keys that is as sensual as it is ambiguous. "Crimes of Passion (In The Funk)" completes the album's trifecta of sexy rockers.

Other standouts include "Boomer," a bouncy, righteous take down of a generation that has the best line on the album - "We were gonna change the world, but now we find, it's hard just to change our minds." Right said.

"Transit of Venus" is a finger-popping, slinky horn showcase for Simpson's intimate crooning and Blasingame's tasteful flourishes. "SWAG" looks at the kudzu-like "affluenza" creeping across the American landscape while "Finger Puppets" provides sociopolitical barbs driven by Wilson and Brown's jackhammer beat. "Dogma" closes the album on an uplifting, almost spiritual note.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Athens Dance Rock Album Of The Year, June 3, 2005

By 

Shelia Hughes (Athens) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back On The Rock (Audio CD)

While not a perfect album, BACK ON THE ROCK is a perfect hatful of songs for a joy ride to the apocalypse with the radio playing loud enough to blast potholes in the pavement. This exhilarating sludgy pop reminds you that, first and foremost, rock is meant to be fun.

There are no overproduced sonic concoctions here. No hint of angst rock or stare-at-your-shoes emo either, just pithy riffs anchored by rhythm guitar, bass and a solid drum kit, then blended with organ, piano and some smooth horn arrangements. It's all simple and direct. Every song is punctuated by Simpson's playful baritone, which displays the kind of sexiness that's only possible from a lifetime of experience.

Many bands today strive to channel the spirit of 60s rock. These rockers don't have to try. Their music feels like the group just woke up from suspended animation. Their songs are timeless, classic and fresh. Long live rock and long live these guys.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A RIGHTEOUS RESURRECTION, June 9, 2005

By 

70s Fan (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back On The Rock (Audio CD)

What a joy to discover this album! I remember this band well. In the early 70s Athens, GA rock world, Ravenstone were the rulers of the roost. Displaying an uncompromising, low fidelity aggression in concert with its loud guitars and force-of-nature vocals, the group kicked up an explosive, three-chords-and-the-truth racket. Like opening the frig door on a steamy August afternoon in Athens, their gutbucket rock was a cool blast of fresh air compared to the already stall boogie and jam bands that dominated the town's embryonic music scene at that time.

The tag team tandem of Simpson's vocal strut and Blasingame's welt-raising guitar attack -- he was the first guitarist in the Athens scene using a stack of Marshall amps -- was anchored by the band's rhythm trinity of Brown, Wilson and Towler, who always made sure to bring the rock AND the roll.

The band's loose and juicy music was - and still is - a pileup of roots rock, sixties, and protopunk elements, smoothed out on this outing with some great horn arrangements by producer Jim Boling that bring out the group's inner white boy funk. These guys may have mellowed a bit with age - who hasn't? - but they still rock with more brains, wit and libido than the White Stripes or the Strokes on their best days.

My favorite tracks on this album are `Drivin' By Braille' and `Oilman,' (love those horns) although `Finger Puppets' runs a close third.

BACK ON THE ROCK is a righteous resurrection of a great, early 70s Athens, GA band. I give the CD three stars only because I know, as good as it is, this band can do even better.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A VOICE OF CASUAL COOL, June 6, 2005

By 

Charlene Tidwell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back On The Rock (Audio CD)

A lot has been said about this stalwart band's stripped down dance rock on their Back On The Rock outing, but the songs that really connect for me are Transit of Venus (not sure what the title means but I like it) and Girl With Something Extra (not sure what this song is about but I like its playfulness). The tunes feel fresh and have an uncanny charm with repeat listens. Ravenstone's frontman, Michael Simpson, has a voice of casual cool on these songs, like he just crawled out of bed or is just crawling into it with the woman of his dreams.