By Joshua Wallace
The Steel Woods have released their second album and it’s a banger. Clocking in at 68 minutes, this 15 track epic features 9 originals and 6 covers. It feels like two projects in one but the entire package works. In my opinion, this record is a southern rock tour de force. It pays respects to those that came before and moves the genre solidly into 2019. Let’s take a deeper dive into some of this huge record.
Right off the bat, The Steel Woods come out swinging with “All Of These Years”. It’s a blazing southern rock track that will get you on your feet in your living room, the back of your truck or wherever you happen to be listening to the album. That blazing solo lets you know what you’re in for real quick. The track “Blind Lover” goes into more bluesey southern rock territory, but still southern rock at its core. Just like “All Of These Years”, this track features some killer guitar work. “Compared To A Soul” continues the bluesey southern rock trend. I dig the riffs on this one and it’s another solid track worth checking out.
The song “Anna Lee” switches and takes the band into almost bluegrass and country territory. The acoustic guitars are just as blazing fast as the electric and this track really showcases this band’s depth and range. If you want to see some more of the band’s range, look no further than their second Black Sabbath cover in “Changes”. It’s a slower track, but they nail it just like every other cover on this record.
Digging more into the covers, I really like the Wayne Mills cover “One Of These Days”. The world can never get enough Wayne Mills and while I’m waiting for someone to record a worthy cover of “Last Honky Tonk”, this will suffice. The band also does a good turn of Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents” and Townes Van Zandt’s “The Catfish Song”. However, if you want the grade A prime cut of the album, look no further than “Whipping Post”. Friends, this song blew me away the first time I heard it live. Those guitars had to be smoking. Does the recorded version live up to the live cut? While I will admit, it doesn’t pack the same punch as hearing the band do it live, it does inspire some serious headbanging.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Steel Woods have arrived and are here to stay. This is one mammoth and epic album that is sure to satisfy any southern rock or traditional country fan. If you want some more coverage of The Steel Woods, I know for a fact that my buddy Gary Hayes attended both nights of their shows in Nashville, TN with Josh Card as the opening act. He will have a post up on that very soon. We will also be covering The Steel Woods as a part of this year’s Tumbleweed Country Music Festival. It’s gonna be a good time. Old News is available everywhere good music is sold or streamed. Get yourself a copy and prepare to have your face melted.
Favorite Tracks : All These Years, Blind Lover, Compared To A Soul, Anna Lee, One Of These Days, Whipping Post, Southern Accents
The Steel Woods – Old News (2019)
- All These Years
- Without You
- Changes (Black Sabbath Cover)
- Wherever You Are
- Blind Lover
- Compared To A Soul
- Old News
- Anna Lee
- Red River (The Fall Of Jimmy Sutherland)
- The Catfish Song (Townes Van Zandt Cover)
- Rock That Says My Name
- One Of These Days (Wayne Mills Cover)
- Are The Good Times Really Over (I Wish A Buck Was Still Silver) (Merle Haggard Cover)
- Whipping Post (Allman Brothers Cover)
- Southern Accents (Tom Petty Cover)
