Main Line Riders

OK, are you guys & girls ready for some old school hard rock ala AC/DC but with a Christian message?

Be sure and check out the new band Main Line Riders. You can hear two full songs on their MySpace page HERE. It would appear that this band's debut CD "Shot In The Dark" will be released by Retroactive Records!!!

I will probably be getting this when it comes out! I love this kind of stuff!

At a fraction over 30 minutes, I'd say their 9-song album is barely out of EP range.

I'll have to see the lyrics first.

Quote :

At a fraction over 30 minutes, I'd say their 9-song album is barely out of EP range.

A lot of your old school bands like AC/DC's albums were the same at ten songs being not quite 40 minutes.

An EP, to me, is something of 5 or less songs regardless of length.

I would like to see a lyric sheet as well.

Sounds good to me, maybe a slight bit modern, but still good.

Fundy

[quote="alldatndensum"]

Quote :

An EP, to me, is something of 5 or less songs regardless of length.

Agreed, in the 80's most albums didn't clock over 40-45 minutes, and typically only had 8 to 10 songs. If I remember correctly nearly half of my albums less than 40minutes long, and almost never had more than 10 songs.

Hmmm, a very "modern" sounding AC/DC inspired type band (almost with a little punk influence).
The singer doesn't grab me at first listen, but not bad. I will probably jump on this one as well. I have a non-Christian friend who would love it. I'll have to get him a copy too.

Number of songs is out of EP range but it says to me they don't know how to write very well if all they can manage are 3 minute songs. Same with Rev Seven - love Bill's playing but the songwriting is pretty weak and formulaic.

I don't really think you can judge the talent of a band's songwriting just because they write short songs. I would rather a band write honest music from the heart with some cool riffs/leads that fit the song than to drone on for 6 or more minutes just to play another overly technical solo. So many hard rock/metal artists write the song to fit the solo nowadays. But, it used to be that the guitarist wrote the solo to fit the song.

If a songwriter/band can write a tune, express themselves, grab the attention of the listener, and have the listener feeling the emotion of the music in just over 3 minutes, then that's great. It makes them no less of a musician--it just means that their making "working man's rock" that's meant to be enjoyed but not dissected and pondered.

It kind of reminds me somewhat of Squad-5-O's older album "Bombs Over Broadway".

Also, I do not notice the modern influence. It sounds like old school hard rock to me.

I enjoyed the first song..."Throwing the Bones" (?).

Looking forward to hearing more from them.

Thanks for the link.

A very modern rockband with "old school influences". My personal always #1 will be "X-Sinner - Get it". I have almost heard everything after 21 years Christmas Rocknight in a row. But hey, yeah, they are cool in what they do.

About the 3 minutes songs: I agree with alldatndensum. If a song is that catchy it doesn't really matter how long it is. Ramones for example....

Bride's "Here comes the Bride" is only 2 minutes 50 (or something like that) and that's a great song. So length of songs doesn't matter to me at all - unless it's over 10 minutes, then it starts to grate!

Fundy

Length doesn't matter if the song's catchy and well-written, but I can't say that is the case here until I hear the whole CD. The 2 songs available don't do anything for me at least. It's just a red flag to me when EVERY song is 3 minutes.

Quote :

Length doesn't matter if the song's catchy and
well-written, but I can't say that is the case here until I hear the
whole CD. The 2 songs available don't do anything for me at least. It's
just a red flag to me when EVERY song is 3 minutes.

I could not agree more. One of my favorite Sacred Warrior songs, "Stay Away From Evil", clocks in at around 3 minutes. But when every song on an album is 3 minutes it can get redundant.

When I first listened to these songs I thought no this is not cool.
But sometimes I need to listen again and again to new songs.
After some more times I have listened to these songs I like the songs.

For me an EP contents 4 or 5 songs too.

For me three minute songs are somewhat refreshing in the face of these 12 minute epics we see in some prog metal nowadays. I'm looking forward to this one.

topshot rhit wrote:

At a fraction over 30 minutes, I'd say their 9-song album is barely out of EP range.

I'll have to see the lyrics first.

34 minutes long...9 proper album songs and, this is the first time I've let anyone outside of the label know this, there is a 10th song that is listed nowhere in the liner notes, lyric sheet or any press release.

If anyone remembers the LA strip band, Junkyard, the 10th song referenced above is a cover of their song, Shot In The Dark.

The complete lyric sheet (including the Junkyard lyrics) can be read by clicking on the following link:

http://www.mainlineriders.com/mainlineriders/MLR-lyrics.txt

later...Cliffy

Fundy wrote:

maybe a slight bit modern, but still good.

Fundy

I would actually agree...to a point.

First of all, I'm 37 and I'm one of the band's two principle songwriters. I wrote all the music and 50 to 60% of the lyrics. I'm not a modern music kinda guy. My old band, Huntingtons, was a straight up Ramones band. I've literally hated modern music, pretty much all of it, since the original demise of the hard rock scene in the early 90's.

The "slight bit modern" that you're hearing is the recording. Like pretty much all albums recorded these days, it was recorded without the benefit of analog machines. Now...this, to me, is a shame, but it pretty much just is the way it is these days. Unless you've got enormous bucks, you don't have any other choice. Thankfully, digital recording has come a long, LONG way since the late 80's, early 90's...back then you could tell a digital recording was a digital recording from about 10 miles away. This is not so much the case anymore.

We've also got modern day mastering techniques that keep modern day recordings sounding a bit more...well, modern when compared with the favorite albums of my youth (Kix - Hot Wire, first LA Guns, GNR - Appetite For Destruction, AC/DC - anything up to and including For Those About To Rock, Hanoi Rocks - Two Steps From The Move). Everything is pushed to the limit and this leaves little room for forgiveness with respect to the final mixes.

However, if you compare our album in its entirety, to the first LA Guns record, you'll definitely get a sense of similarity in presentation, tempo and attitude. I'd say that our songs are more hook laden than the early LA Guns stuff. Also, my guitar solos are much more along the lines of Andy McCoy's work in Hanoi Rocks than that of Tracii Guns, but still...the overall feel of the album harkens back to Guns' early work. People used to say that LA Guns' sleaze metal was the perfect combination of metal swagger and punk rock attitude. The same can definitely be said about us. MLR singer (and other principle songwriter) and myself purposefully set out to capture that same kind of thing with the songs on our own record. Time will tell as to whether or not our perspective audience agrees with us.

later...Cliffy

Cliffy, welcome to CHM.
We all hope you like it here as much we do too.

Welcome to CMR. Thanks for your insight in regards to Main Line Riders. Looking forward to hearing the new CD.

Thanks and you're certainly welcome and...always remember, honesty is the best policy. I'll never be afraid of or angry about anyone's true opinion.

If anyone's interested in knowin' more of where it is we're coming from as a band then feel free to read an interview I just did with Christian Xtreme:

MLR interview w/Christian Xtreme

later...Cliffy

Cliffy your influences are like a who's who of my favorite bands when I was growing up. Throw some salty dog in there for good measure.

I see more of a punk influnce in there, just in the tempo of the songs.

You definitely have a David Roach vibe going on. Looking foward to the new disc!

Cliffy wrote:

If anyone remembers the LA strip band, Junkyard, the 10th song referenced above is a cover of their song, Shot In The Dark.

Ok now I know I need to get two copies of this album. Shot in the Dark was one of the best songs Junkyard ever did. I was a huge Junkyard fan back in the day, and my buddy was the guy who got me hooked (the dude who will get my 2nd Mainliners disc).




BTW Welcome to the board Cliffy. Feel free to stop by anytime and update us with info for your band. Or just post your thoughts on any of the threads.


Just knowing some of your influences (LA Guns, Kix, Junkyard) puts you at the top of my list for "must have albums" this year. There is a serious lack of this style of music with a positive Christian message.

kethdredd wrote:

Cliffy your influences are like a who's who of my favorite bands when I was growing up. Throw some salty dog in there for good measure.

I see more of a punk influnce in there, just in the tempo of the songs.

You definitely have a David Roach vibe going on. Looking foward to the new disc!

Salty Dog? I remember that album...only liked a few of the songs on that one. Every label was tryin' to find their next GNR...and every band was tryin' to be GNR. Of course that all changed (as these things always do) a few years later and GNR became a bloated mess, but still.

As for the punk influence...I did do that Ramones band for a decade. It was bound to have a permanent impact. It's unintentional, though. This band is simply from the standpoint of "I don't care what's popular and I really don't care what anyone else is doing...I just wanna play the music I loved so much as a kid."

And y'know...this is our first record...recorded in three days. Our next record will allow our singer to stretch his wings a bit more. After you get through that first record, you tend to be a bit more confident and that'll show on the next one. Plus, the next record will be made after heavy touring, so I'm sure that will have an impact as well. And I ain't tryin' to downplay this one either...I'm really proud of it.

later...Cliffy

Staybrite wrote:

Ok now I know I need to get two copies of this album. Shot in the Dark was one of the best songs Junkyard ever did. I was a huge Junkyard fan back in the day, and my buddy was the guy who got me hooked (the dude who will get my 2nd Mainliners disc).

Did you like their stuff after their first album? I loved that first record so much, but their other stuff just didn't have the same appeal to me.

"That's life...in Hollywood...where what's bad, just seems to be good...that's life in Hollywood...I love the place...am I misunderstood?"

Great, great, GREAT stuff! A lot of people didn't like his voice, but I sure did.

Staybrite wrote:

Feel free to stop by anytime and update us with info for your band. Or just post your thoughts on any of the threads.

Already added this place to my bookmarks.

Staybrite wrote:

Just knowing some of your influences (LA Guns, Kix, Junkyard) puts you at the top of my list for "must have albums" this year. There is a serious lack of this style of music with a positive Christian message.

If there are other bands doing what we're doing then I am not aware of it, that's for sure. Glad you're excited. Happy to be makin' the music we're makin'.

later...Cliffy

I was a big Junkyard fan. I enjoyed both of their albums, probably preferred the first one a bit more. You guys remind me of Junkyard quite a bit minus the blues influence.

Of course Junkyard was essentially a punk band that bleached their hair and tried to make it big in Hollywood.

Anywho, good luck with the CD, I'm looking forward to getting it soon.