Review: Gotthard – Stereo Crush
Reigning Phoenix Music (March 21st, 2025)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
To say that Gotthard is one of my favorite bands would be an understatement. This band single handedly gave me hope for the future of hard rock in the 90s when most bands were either giving up or giving in to the alterative grunge sound. Steve Lee’s passing in 2010 was a tremendous loss, but I am glad the band decided to carry on.
To that extent, I was not a fan of the output from the band with singer Nic Maeder. His vocals were not an issue as he had a timbre similar to Steve, but the song quality and hooks was lacking for their first few releases. That all changed with 2020’s #13. That album contained the best songs the reassembled band had released. They seemed to find that spark that made the band a standout amongst their peers in the 90s and 00s. Perhaps guitarist Leo Leoni’s side project CoreLeoni helped rekindle that fire that was missing from the band.
While I didn’t expect the type of classic albums the band released in their heyday, I was hoping for a continuation of the momentum built up from ‘#13‘, and that’s what we get here and more! Some of the tracks on new release ‘Stereo Crush‘ go so far as to sound like the Gotthard of old. Even Nic’s vibrato is so close to the spirit of Steve’s delivery here with this material that it made me feel for the band in a way that I haven’t since Steve’s passing.
Admittedly, I was initially worried. First single ‘Boom Boom’ had a good overall rhythm but a fairly weak chorus, which is something that had plagued the band on their earlier releases with Nic. I had low expectations for what the album had to offer. I am happy to report that ‘Boom Boom’ is one of the weaker tracks on the album and quite the head scratcher that it was released as a single. There are far better tracks here.
Next single ‘Thunder & Lightning’ got my anticipation back in a big way. A mid-tempo juggernaut of a track that is as strong as their earlier material, reminiscent of their tunes from the ‘Homerun‘ and ‘Human Zoo‘ albums. My desire to hear this album skyrocketed with next singer ‘Rusty Rose’, with its blues drenched sound that harkened back to the ‘Dial Hard‘ and ‘G‘ era. If you liked these singles, the album contains songs as good as that.
With that said, prepare yourself for the opening track ‘Ai and I’. The band slams with one of the heaviest tracks ever performed. Nic’s vocal approach is also unique. He goes nearly a full minute vocalizing the words, not singing them, with a bit of studio magic to make his register lower and a bit mechanical. This fits the theme of the track and the overall metal vibe, making it new, exciting, and something completely unexpected. This track is up there with the best the band has ever released.
I did not expect a cover of The Beatles ‘Drive My Car’ as it certainly does not start out sounding like that classic. Gotthard has taken the skeleton of that song structure and made it their own. It was not until the chorus that the familiar verbiage became apparent. It rocks like never before and will go over like a storm live.
Two other killer tracks worth mentioning are the rocking ‘Shake Shake’, which starts out innocuous enough but builds up and explodes at the 40 second mark, taking its time to get to a chorus that’s a sing-along ditty sure to get your head nodding. In a different type of Beatles tribute, the band offers ‘Liverpool’, although truthfully the song could have been called anything as the title is only utilized as the last word in the song. Nonetheless, the song’s upbeat tempo of going back home and desiring to relive youthful exuberances is spirited enough to evoke all our younger days.
The album does have its weak spots. Outside of first single ‘Boom Boom’, I found the two (and a half?) ballads to be the least appealing tracks. Gotthard has released soulfully powerful songs in the past, with some favorites being ‘Let It Be, ‘Love Soul Matter, and (from the more modern era) ‘Remember It’s Me’. On this album, ‘Burning Bridges’ and ‘Life’ do not move me like past ballads would have. ‘These are the Days’ is the strongest of the three, although it does ride the line between power ballad and a soulful blues mid-tempo anthem. It has a terrific guitar solo with a lot of punch, so it has that going for it.
I will speak for all old school Gotthard fans in saying the band has officially got their groove back. It was a few bumpy years for the band, but if one were to look back on their discography, they will notice a pattern to their studio albums that almost seems purposeful. Their first three albums had that US blues based hard rock sound. Their next three were more AOR-tinged. Their final three with Steve Lee had a European hard rock feel.
Upon his death, the band experimented with their sound on Nic’s first three before coming to ‘#13‘, recapturing various eras of their original sound. That exploration is continued here, and I am all for it! Time will tell if this album surpasses their last one, but the band has released another banger here and for the first time in a long time, I am excited about hearing new music from them. Go out and purchase/download/stream this album immediately and let the band take you back to the days when their music dominated all our stereos.
Tracklist:
- Ai and I
- Thunder & Lightning
- Rusty Rose
- Burning Bridges
- Drive My Car
- Boom Boom
- Life
- Liverpool
- Shake Shake
- Devil in the Moonlight
- Dig a Little Deeper
- These Are the Days
Line-up:
Leo Leoni
Marc Lynn
Freddy Scherer
Nic Maeder
Flavio Mezzodi
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