Damon Johnson & The Get Ready - Battle Lessons (2021)

Having recently reviewed Ricky Warwick’s new album, now we have the latest release from his former Black Star Riders bandmate Damon Johnson. Following his 2019 solo release, Memoirs Of An Uprising, this new album sees him recruiting drummer Jarred Pope and bassist Robbie Harrington into his band The Get Ready and returning to the original hard-rock sound he first discovered as a teenager playing Van Halen and AC/DC covers in garage bands.

Damon explains that the lyrics to opener and title track, Battle Lessons, describe his past experiences in various bands throughout the years. The track itself setting out the blueprint for the album, one of infectious, riffy classic hard rock. Next up, please put your hands together for the ludicrously catchy Can’t Clap Any Louder, complete with a backing of hand claps (of course!) and an ear-worm of a chorus more difficult to shift that the one Chekov had to deal with in Wrath Of Khan.

Talk Yourself Into Anything and Shadow Country stick firmly to the template, the former with more of a funky groove, whilst the later has drawn comparisons to BSR’s Heavy Fire with its midpoint breakdown and tempo change. The only revision to the blueprint is the second to last track, Love Is All You Left Behind, an acoustic number which resists the power ballad temptation to inject some electricity in the final third and to these ears has a little of Alice in Chains’ Nushell in some of the melodies and the gently swelling strings. The nine track album culminates with the defiant and purposeful Casual Beast, which concludes with the other members of the band stepping back to leave Damon alone with an acoustic guitar, his final line being “You gotta believe in me now”.

In these unpredictable times, if you are wanting the comfort and security provided by a solid collection of classic hard rock songs…then yes, you can believe in Damon Johnson and The Get Ready.