Piledriver
Brothers in Boogie

German pile drivers are a quintet of brothers in boogie, Europe’s finest Status Quo cover band is written on their website and they do have a pair of Quo covers on this new album even though most of the stuff is their own writing. And they really want to carry the original Status Quo sound; they want to keep it even more status quo than Status Quo themselves. And they kind of do. They sound a bit like a more powerful version of said British band but the style and the song structure from this German quintet is the same as the legendary Brits’.

So, they aren’t particularly original, something one has to point out if one is a critic. Neither do they really make music that is so fantastic that it stands out above the midrange of this genre, so one risk is that they could be easily overlooked even though I don’t doubt seeing them on stage will be a rather interesting experience. And their music is such that you cannot really dislike them, and you cannot complain about the production by Stefan Kaufmann either. In fact there are many things to like about this album even though it may not be the most outstanding or original thing you have ever heard.

In their opening track the claim that there is only one way to rock, which may be true to them but if there was I think it would be insanely boring in the rock’n’roll world. And this album would be very forgotten as there would be very many such albums out there and this is neither exciting enough, nor good enough to stand out in such company. But the band’s way to rock isn’t too shabby, and I like it and don’t doubt that anyone who buys it will find it fairly satisfying. But as a critic I still have to point out that there isn’t much point in it when there are many better boogie rock albums out there, and if your collection of such albums already is large there is a risk that this album won’t be played much after the first time you hear it.

The two single tracks that end the album and their corresponding album versions are the highlights of the album; those are really great tracks that I really enjoy. The rest of the album is okay but not fantastic. An enjoyable piece to listen to, but Status Quo have done some albums that are much better and there are some other bands like Foghat that has done so as well, kind of average for the genre I would say. Average but still an album that you cannot really dislike, I think Piledriver does well enough and if you are a fan of Status Quo or boogie rock in general you will like this.

And a big thumbs up to the band for dedicating the album to all the true and "natural born rockers" - the refugees who risk everything for a better but uncertain future. They have both mine and the band's respect - and the band have my respect as I believe the world would be a much better place if others looked at that situation like these guys. Thumbs up for that and the music.

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