Battleground, the new release from southern rockers MOLLY HATCHET (1971) recorded in Germany and Switzerland is part walk down memory lane, part timely band performance and part previous release payday for the guys still putting a show together under the MOLLY HATCHET moniker. The grinding gears of the music business PR machine describe this release as a live performance, but it rather sounds a bit excogitated and arid for a public live performance. Whatever, these guys are pros and the performance sounds every bit greased by years of experience. If you listen to this 2 disc release and like it, I suggest you fire up the way back machine - an LP record player - and listen to the 2 times platinum Flirtin' with Disaster from 1979. And if you are not the melancholy type, check out their wiki page for MOLLY HATCHET band history. Besides the "here one year-gone the next" band lineup changes you see a lot of these guys didn't make it to a ripe old age. Like the song "I'm Gonna Live till I Die", indeed.

"The Creeper" is a cool tune with some creepin' organ breakdown by John Galvin. Dics 2 opener "Justice" does MOLLY HATCHET proud with singer Jimmy Elkins gargling on the old west drama television rerun lyrics.  "I'm Gonna Live till I Die" has a stadium rock entry which bands like JOURNEY perfected from the San Francisco side of American rock and which shows that MOLLY HATCHET was always planted on the mainstream album oriented rock plantation, southern rock beginnings and all. "The Journey" does us with the well traveled "rock is a hard life for those of us blessed to live it" canon and puts down the best twin guitar lead hoedown to be found on Battleground, and for which the band was recognized before ending with the hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster".

Guitar slinger Bobby Ingram has been the keeper of the  MOLLY HATCHET flame since the 90's and he has a career with the road miles to prove it. I would like to see these guys perform this setlist live rather than listen to this touched-up presentation and to be fair, at this point MOLLY HATCHET hangs their music credential shingles out on their live show performances rather than current music consumer tastes and unit sales. You can see from their Facebook page that plenty of fans love the band for just who they are in the music universe and after 40 plus years this 19 song career kiss is a pacific yet journeyman representation of the MOLLY HATCHET cosmos right here, right now.