On Down the Road

Album Review

There were few bands in the history of rock that sought and craved the limelight as much as Guns N' Roses did circa Appetite for Destruction through their Use Your Illusion releases. Interestingly, after rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin went sayonara and exited the band in 1991, he kept an extremely low profile. But unlike a certain former member of his, Stradlin has subsequently solely let the music do the talking — not numerous in-concert costume changes nor arena riot-inducing poor behavior — as he issued a string of low-profile solo outings over the years. And all were modeled after Stradlin's main influence, Keith Richards, as heard on his 2002 release, On Down the Road. His fifth studio album overall, On Down the Road comes off more like a bar band rather than a former stadium headliner, especially on such blues rockers as "You Betcha," "Monkeys," and "On Down the Road." On Down the Road certainly won't get any awards for the most original-sounding or stylistically groundbreaking rock release of 2002, but creating familiar vintage rock sounds appears to be Stradlin's modus operandi nowadays. So from that standpoint, On Down the Road certainly accomplishes its goal.