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Black Paisley: Rambler
Black Paisley - Rambler Album Art

Black Paisley: Rambler

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR
5.0/5.0

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Shelter Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 09.12.2020 | Released: 03.12.2020

Formed some six years ago, Sweden's Black Paisley have offered fans two exceptional and well received studio albums, 2017's Late Bloomer and 2018's Perennials, yet with each album having slight personnel shifts. The band's latest and third album, Rambler, finds Black Paisley Mk III returning to its roots with vocalist Stefan Blomqvist and bass player Jan Emanuelsson reuniting with original drummer Robert Karaszi. Trimmed down to a four piece, the band is completed by guitarist Franco Santunione, late of Electric Boys. With that bit of housekeeping cleaned up, it's on to the tunes.

Black Paisley - Click For Larger Image

Black Paisley

What hasn't changed with Black Paisley is their solemn commitment to classic rock, that is, melodic hard rock in a fine AOR wrapper. Like the two previous albums, every song within Rambler is spot on, not a single runt in the litter. Once more Black Paisley taps into the essential musical ingredients of the genre: rock rhythm, groove, and big beats, sharp riffs and soaring solos, ambitious refrains, and strong vocal arrangements, with all things wrapped up nicely in catchy song melody. Black Paisley knows their genre quite well and so, knows how to craft terrific tunes.

Speaking to the tunes, listeners may recognize a bit of a formula across the album. Most songs start strong with the tandem of riffs and rhythm section, often with a quick soaring guitar solo injected. Then the vocals come in, the guitar lines rise, and the rhythm and groove steps up to propel the song along. Of course, being classic rock, a generous solo or two arrives in the second half. You'll hear this recipe quite nicely within Without Us, Save The Best, and Damned. Something of a shift comes with Take Me To The River where the drums establish the groove with a big beat before the riffs rise. When the vocals arrive and the rhythm is established, I felt the song had something of a latent blues vibe. For the closer, Give It Up is a heavier riff rocker with sharp guitar lines and a thumping beat from the rhythm section. As said earlier, Black Paisley's Rambler is another solid, consistent, and quite entertaining album of the band's signature classic melodic hard rock. Easily recommended.




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The Bottom Line

Black Paisley's Rambler is another solid, consistent, and quite entertaining album of the band's signature classic melodic hard rock. Easily recommended.

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