Music Review: Status Quo – In Search Of The Fourth Chord

Status Quo, or The Status Quo as they were known by in the sixties, has been cranking out the tunes for over forty years now. They are best remembered in The United States for their 1968 hit “Pictures Of Matchstick Men," which really fit the time period well. They quickly disappeared from the music scene in The USA with only an occasional appearance and release during the next four decades.

They have remained in the public eye in their native England and Europe. They have sold in excess of one hundred million albums worldwide and placed over sixty singles on The British charts over the years in addition to twelve top five albums and four that have reached number one. Europe’s gain is America’s loss.

In Search Of The Fourth Chord is their 28th studio album. It was released in Europe in 2007, and now two years later has been issued in The United States.

Since the mid seventies Status Quo has settled into being a hard rock band and this release continues in that vein. They present no nonsense, straight ahead boogie rock ‘n’ roll. Their sound certainly fits into the hard rock mainstream and why they have not caught on somewhere along the line in The USA is beyond me. Hopefully this will be their deserved breakthrough release in this country.

I have a number of their albums in my collection and the quality of the music has been consistently excellent over the years and In Search Of The Fourth Chord upholds those standards.

“Gravy Train” and “Bad News” find them putting the guitars up front and cranking up the sound. “Alright” and “Hold Me” have a nice boogie sound that has been honed to perfection over the years. “Electric Arena” is slower than most of their material, but still maintains a heavy rock sound. The most interesting track is “I Don’t Wanna Hurt You Anymore” as it puts the piano out front and adds a harmonica to the mix which gives it a blues feel.

In Search Of The Fourth Chord is another fine release from this seminal British rock band. Their music remains fresh and hopefully they will find renewed popularity in The United States. After four decades on the road they certainly deserve it.