Cornerstone
Cornerstone
Reviewed by Patrick Edholm
The Swedish Christian rock music scene has suffered from serious malnutrition for the last few years. But now, with bands like Cornerstone releasing its debut album and XT releasing its second, the diet is definitely changing.
Cornerstone consists of four guys from the south of Sweden: Kent Franklin - vocals, guitar, slide and harmonica; Mattias Holm - lead guitar; Samuel Gustafsson - bass and Frederic Josefsson - drums and percussion. They play heavy, down-to-earth blues.
When you hear the first tune, "Little Prayer" (which was also on the tape that Jeff Lott reviewed in the #40 issue of HM), you just want to get on your Harley and hit the road. And then you give more throttle when "Doing My Best" takes the tempo up.
The rest of the album really shows that these guys really can make positive things out of old R&B and R&R traditions. "Resurrection Blues" and "Whiskey And Women" are two acoustic, very bluesy songs. My personal favorites are "Train To Jordan" and "When I Get To Heaven," a couple of up-tempo songs about the day when we reach the goal of our lives. "Hello Sunshine" is the weakest song on the album, but it gains on you after listening to it a couple of times. "Greed" is a funky piece that really swings and tells us not to give into greed. "The Deeper Love Goes" is about not wanting the girl you are in love with playing around with your feelings. "Rock Of Love" is a heavy tune with lots of tempo, and in "Give Me Fire" they sing about wanting more of the fire from above.
As a whole, this album is a powerful record that really shows where rock 'n' roll has its roots, and does it in a way that is fresh and nice to your ears. Musically they're a tight outfit, but they need to develop their lyrics a bit more. They are not afraid of talking about what they believe in, but a few more verses wouldn't hurt. Kent Franklin has all the roughness in his voice that is needed for this kind of music, although, he sometimes sounds a bit insecure.
If you like rock and especially the kind that is founded in blues, this is definitely a record for you. I am already looking forward to their next record.