Artist: Blackberry Smoke Album: Like An Arrow Bitrate: 250kbps avg Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz Label: Earache Records Genre: Rock Size: 91.64 megs PlayTime: 0h 48min 47sec total Rip Date: 2016-10-14 Store Date: 2016-10-14 Track List: -------- 01. Waiting For The Thunder 4:07 02. Let It Burn 2:56 03. The Good Life 3:59 04. What Comes Naturally 4:21 05. Running Through Time 4:44 06. Like An Arrow 4:24 07. Ought To Know 4:16 08. Sunrise In Texas 4:36 09. Ain't Gonna Wait 3:38 10. Workin' For A Workin' Man 2:59 11. Believe You Me 2:59 12. Free On The Wing (Feat. Gregg 5:48 Allman) Release Notes: -------- Even for the hard working Blackberry Smoke, a band that has been at it since 2001, the past four years have been productive ones. This is the third studio album the Southern rocking quintet has released since 2012Æs The Whipperwill breakthrough, along with a live disc and simultaneous DVD of a typically energetic 2014 performance. While the groupÆs direction stays rooted in the red clay soil that has created its solid and growing fan base, they expand their boundaries, at least slightly, for Like an Arrow. ItÆs likely Blackberry Smoke will never entirely break free of the Lynyrd Skynyrd comparisons attached to the dueling guitars/keyboards sound they traffic in. Still, there is stylistic room to roam. Songs such as the tough, sinewy riff heavy title track, the Bad Company/Brit rock inspired opening ôWaiting for the Thunderö with its arm-waving chorus, the grinding rocker ôOught to Know,ö and blue collar anthem ôWorking for a Working Manö are some of the hardest, most powerful tracks in SmokeÆs studio history. Conversely, lower wattage, more pensive material such as the bluesy ballad ôThe Good Lifeö and the breezy ôRunning Through Timeö (both co-written with veteran Nashville songsmith Travis Meadows), display a more sensitive side. The same holds for the closing ôFree on the Wingö where kindred spirit and Smoke supporter Gregg Allman guests on vocals for a song clearly inspired by ôMidnight Riderö even though the somewhat clunky lyrics of ôPeople just want you to be/what they want you to beö come up short in the creativity department. The lilting, reflective ôAinÆt Gonna Waitö with its acoustic guitar/mandolin underpinnings provides more ying to the yang of the chugging boogie of the appropriately titled ôLet it Burn,ö the latter a return to the actÆs bar band roots. This is Blackberry SmokeÆs first self-produced higher profile project, recorded in their home state of Georgia,á close to their Atlanta home base. While there arenÆt drastic changes to their sound, thereÆs a sense of sureness to the songwriting, playing and Charlie StarrÆs singing that reflects a decade and a half of the same dudes slinging it out together on the endless highway. The Southern rock genre was never the hippest way to make a living even at its peak. But for those whose eyes glaze over in rapture when the name Ronnie Van Zant gets mentioned, Blackberry Smoke fills the bill for the next generation of gutsy, heartfelt and honest Southeast rocking with plenty of talent, tons of drive and no apologies.