After having been off the radar for close to 20 years, Stillwater surprisingly reemerged with this great come-back album in 1998. "Runnin' Free" sounds like they never left and no time had past. Well, almost. The album kicks off with "The Big Payback", an original Causey/Walker song, which had previously been recorded by Molly Hatchet for their "Lightning Strikes Twice" album. And it's that distinctive Stillwater sound alright. What we get from there is a slightly updated version of the Stillwater we know from their two Capricorn releases from the 70's. And it's really cool to hear old Southern Rockers delivering the goods after so many years of absence. Though it doesn't grab me as much as the old albums did, I thoroughly enjoy listening to this album. I guess the main difference is that it all sounds somewhat poppier and there seems to be less room for extended soloing/improvisation. But that's the curse of the 80's music, which left its mark on most Southern Rock released after the 70's. It still rocks. And it still has enough Soul to have you believing this is the real deal. Enough diversity here to make repeat playing worth your while. Ready to rock?
4 comments:
Hello,
One of my favorite band!
The first interview I did was with Bobby Golden: http://www.sweethomemusic.fr/Interviews/StillwaterUS.php?
This album consists mainly of stuff that was meant to be a third album back around 1980/81. Worth getting to hear Mike Causey still playing some of the best guitar you will hear. The "Recycled" cd is a poorly put together compilation of the Capricorn albums and an out of sequence recording of the "Rebel Jam" - disappointing. It was on CDBABY
Great album Stillwater hasnt lost a beat. Thanks alot!!!
Thanks so much for this. Great that you're still keepingthese links available
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