Customer Reviews

Piledriver

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I was first introduced to the Status Quo way back in 1974 when my dad took the family along on a working vacation to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks. While there, we stayed at a Travel Lodge motel in the Hollywood district. The day after we arrived, we went to the motel pool for a swim and found several pairs of blue jeans floating in the pool and a couple of guys strumming their guitars. They introduced themselves as Francis Rossi and Richard Parfitt and told us they were members of the British rock band "Status Quo." Of course, we had never heard of Status Quo before. Over the next week or so, we talked to them just about every day. They were really decent and made quite an impression on us. One of the things they told us was they didn?t believe in gimmicks - when they appeared in concert they wore t-shirts and faded blue jeans (this is the reason for the jeans floating in the pool - let'em get a bit of chlorine bleaching). We found a couple of their albums ("Piledriver" and "Hello") at a nearby record shop and they autographed them for us (Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan also signed our records). I have been an avid Quo fan ever since.

Of all their albums, I think Piledriver is the best. The album is a nice mix of up-tempo, 70s style hard rockers and slower ballads. Overall, Piledriver is a very good mix of styles. All of the songs on what used to be side A (Don't Waste My Time, O Baby, Year, Unspoken Words) are great. Big Fat Mama and Paper Plane are also great. I can take or leave the bonus tracks that weren't on the original vinyl.

I saw Status quo on TV a year ago for the first time at the Concert for Princess Diana and I loved their performance. I had never even heard of them before! I checked them out on Youtube and found a ton of their songs that I really liked. And was surprised to know that they never had any North American success but are actually one of the most successful UK acts of all time! I tried looking for their CDs at the local record store but I couldn't find anything. This got me to look on Amazon where I bought their albums "12 Gold Bars", this Piledriver album, On the Level, and the outstanding live album, "Live!" All were really solid and full of great songs. This album has 4 great songs and a few ok songs. The really great songs are:

Don't Waste My Time: a brilliant song with lots of sprit and a great guitar melody,
Big Fat Mamma: AWSOME guitar solo; and Rick's vocals are great on this. A fantastic hard rock song.
Paper Plane: this was their first top 5 single. It's a really fast cool song.
Roadhouse Blues:The classic Doors song covered brilliantly, and more raw than ever. Great guitar solos,great vocals from bassist Alan lancaster, and I just love that harmonica in there. The version of this on the "Live!" album is incredible.

So make no mistake, Piledriver was one of Quo's best studio albums get this and all of the albums they did in the late 60's and 70's, and you will have the true best of Quo. The album cover features the band infront of the drumkit onstage just hamerring away on the guitars and headbanging away; and that's what this album is all about.

EDIT: Ok, I take back what I said about the rest of the songs being only OK, they are also phenominal! Especially "A Year" and "All the Reasons" - Get this album!

First heard the Piledriver album when my brother in law brought it home and cranked it up on his stereo twenty-five years ago. Two years later, I bought my own copy and won't give it up. Every song is a gem, and the addition of the bonus track may not have been needed because this is an album that you play over and over again; multiply with the volume cranked to max. Don't Waste My Time simply pounds into every bone of your body and sends undescribable waves down your spine, then Oh, Baby continues that pleasant torture. These two rockers are followed by the blues--slower but simply ear catching only to take you off guard when Big Fat Mama slams into your ear drums. Then the finale: the tribute to Jim Morrison, Roadhouse Blues has me hopping and singing along in no time. I wanted to be a member of the Status Quo, but unfortunately, couldn't find their address so that I could audition. This album is a classic--in my mind.

The high energy riffs andvocals really come throughin this work,and are nicelymixed with mellower,thoughtful tracks such as "A Year."Their best album I feel.

I grew up with Status Quo being my number 1 band. Their music encouraged me to learn to play guitar. They were just one heck of an energetic melodic rock and roll band.

I had all the records and as time rolled on and i got older i moved on to other things musically.

Recently i saw this remaster and thought id buy it for old times sake and to remember my younger years and what a great move that was. This remaster rocks and they sound absolutely as exciting and fresh today as they did then.

I challenge anyone to find a better boogie R&R album than this and the ones Status Quo released in this part of their career.

Its just an awesome sounding CD.

PileDriver for me represents the best of their work. Apparently recorded virtually live in the studio in just a few days, this album really contrasts the range of style that Quo are capable of. Rossi's lead guitar is just incredible and when combined with Parfit's vocals you have an awesome combo. Shame they went kinda pop a couple of albums later....

I don't have any family tales to tell, but I do know from personal experience that this band played a large part in my musical taste. As a kid in the early '70s I loved Sabbath, Deep Purple, Montrose -- you can see where I'm going here -- But these guys always knocked my shorts off, and honestly, I didn't really understand why. I was the guy down in front of the house speakers banging. I began to realize that simplicity isn't simple;it's complex. Take the Stones, for example. On Exile on Main Street they did not go progressive or Rush-like (which I love)-- They went basic. That is not a bad thing, but a rare few can pull off what Status Quo did. They pulled up to the "what-do-we-have-here-line" and stopped. It turned out to be a damn good decision. They realized their strengths and went head-on. Players -- guitar players -- make discoveries here that can't be had at other terminals. Quo lets you dig in your heels. This is a junction for FEEL and for VOLUME. Some would label them redundant, and I can understand why. But we're not all MC Hammer. Some of us out here like to boogie.

Imo everything quo put out from 1970 until 1982 was at the top of good time rock and roll. after that they have lots of good songs and weaker ones. But at this point the band is just smokin , their signature hard driving sound really got me hooked. This was the first quo that I had ever heard and I was hooked , I got most everything they put out and they put out some great cd's in the last decade that are really cool too. IF you enjoy this one those 00's releases should appeal too mostly. This one really unleashed a beast of rythym on the world and stamped out a classic bands sound for good. It's seventies rockin at it's basic best and that's enough for me.

Rick Parfitt & His Gang, namely STATUS QUO... Lots of powerful guitar riffs.
Nice songs. JUST GOOD ROCK MUSIC.

Simply, as good as other 1970s British Rock bands... Name any you like the most: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, The Kinks...

Status Quo MUST BE considered as one of the greatest British Rock bands for sure!!!
The CD sound quality is really good.

Piledriver is very different proposition from the family-friendly, knees-up Status Quo outout of the 1980s and 1990s. Heavy rock was just hitting its stride in 1972, and Quo abandoned their lightweight, twangy pop, bought distortion pedals and let rip. And what songs! Paper Plane, Big Fat Mama and Don't Waste my Time are pedigree up-tempo rockers that really satisfy (Paper Plane was a hit single). Even the ballads are bluesy and highly listenable. The only really weak track here is the cover of Doors' Roadhouse Blues. Power-boogie has never been as good as this.