Slow Ride, to all those in the know, hints at Stevens' previous band Foghat, with whom the bass player and founder member had two stints.

Joined by drummer Eddie Zyne and guitarists Billy Livesay and Tommy Hall, the blues rock sound here nods as much at a Southern Rock direction as it does boogie. Solid, medium paced, opening track "A Little Bit Of Hurt" and its follow up "Redemption", featuring some great slide guitar, could easily mix Molly Hatchet with Chris Rea at his best.

"Join Together" has a good chorus, kinda catchy, and a decent guitar solo, but does highlight the risk of the "easy" sound.

Back to the beefed up blues for "Hoochie Coochie Man", which has that "MOR" nod at Thorogood and "Bad To The Bone". But it does have, like the Dylan cover "Subterranean Blues", some outstanding guitar, and Stevens' bass is right on the ball too.

One of the stand out tracks is the Foghat (Stevens/Bassett/Earl/Hunn) composition "Looking For You", a prime slice of hard rock a blues nod. Good stuff there.

The album from then does pick up, proving the cleaner sound with a slightly aggressive feel that moves away from the fuzzy Rea MOR is where this band sound best by far.

"Under The Heat Of A Full Moon" is a slow and powerful number, with searing guitar and vocals.

To finish the album, there's two early Foghat numbers, a slow and bluesy take on "Fool For The City", and of course "Slow Ride", heavy, modern, great guitar sound.

Great set, a little room for improvement; definitely looking forward to the next set!

****

Review by Joe Geesin