As the story goes, what we were gonna get was a new studio album under the fine THIN LIZZY moniker. But cooler heads prevailed, the personnel in the band was rendered less mathematically Thin Lizzy, and here we are, with a tough, rootsy, classy and very English classic rock record from Scott Gorham, RICKY WARWICK, Damon Johnson, MARCO MENDOZA and Jimmy DeGrasso (the Lizzys not in attendance being Brian Downey and Darren Wharton). Smartly, nods or characteristics unto that great band are not excessive, are well-executed, and for the most part, perfectly valid, given that they arise mostly from Scott Gorham’s choice melodic leads, then twinned with those of Damon Johnson, total Lizzy fan. Vocally, Ricky Warwick, from Northern Island and a dedicated wordsmith like Phil, plus music writer... well, he’s often enunciating like Phil, or strangely, Phil as channelled by JOHN SYKES. But it’s well suited to the band’s gritty sound, one that is surprisingly block-chorded and recorded dry, like the punkier Lizzy from Black Rose and Chinatown meets pubby new wave and even GARY MOORE as solo artist during his mainstream rock heyday in the mid ‘80s. It’s an engaging alloy to be sure, most notable on compact anthems like ‘Bloodshot’, ‘Hey Judas’ and ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’, the latter an insanely catchy riff-rocker so simple and so rich at once, just so every slightly tweaked by the twin lead trademark. Elsewhere ‘Valley Of The Stones’ leans more into raucous metal and ‘Someday Salvation’, all the way back into VAN MORRISON. All told, what the band have assembled is an almost casual and laid-back album, bravely bereft of ego, a collection of charming, almost modest songs seemingly designed to surprise and provoke those who envisioned some kind of stadium rock bounder. I mean, ‘Before The War’ coulda been on THE CLASH’s masterful London Calling, and that might be Ricky’s fiery post-punk spirit at play. In any event, to reiterate, Black Star Riders have eschewed the expected, writing stripped songs of a timeless nature—which might be the biggest nod to Lizzy of all, even though it’s an abstract one, this idea of climbing on and serving the song, no matter what style it’s sat an’ saddled in.