CRUIZZEN – Free Ride
- by Matt Coe
- Posted on 05-02-2015
Bavaria, Germany’s Cruizzen live for that older hard rock ideal on this 13 song effort "Free Ride". A lot of the live free, pedal to the metal ethic shines on "Straight down Dirt", while "Soundmaker" and "Sparkplugs Blowing" combine a lot of early Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Rose Tattoo charm. Alexander Mayer could be Brian Johnson’s long lost whiskey soaked singing twin – sharp and biting on "Crazy Dayzz" and the foot tapping, slide-guitar enhanced title anthem.
The second half of the album drags a little bit in terms of similar songs and uninspired lead break work – "Trouble" the biggest offender – and I know many will think the production values are less studio polished and mostly raw. Cruizzen are not close to Airbourne or Bullet in terms of their traditional hard rock/ metal songwriting class, and as a result "Free Ride" will probably walk itself to bargain bins the world over.