What happens when some of America's Rock and Heavy Metal figureheads get together to play some MOTHER SUPERIOR covers? Apparently they form a band with the original band's frontman, Jim Wilson. A longtime dream of Anthrax's Scott Ian, he approached Jim to jam some of the songs of his old band, now broken up. He then brought on board his wife, Pearl, on additional vocals, ARMORED SAINT's/FATES WARNING's bassist Joey Vera, and the drummer who has been almost everywhere, from EXODUS to THE CULT. The new band, "Motor Sister", is named after the titular MOTHER SUPERIOR track, and the new album, "Ride", contains 12 covers; Scott's favourite tracks, recorded and played live over the course of two days.

This album is not a reincarnation or re-imagining, according to Joey, but Scott simply wanting to play his favorite MOTHER SUPERIOR tracks. The first thing one will note upon the first riff is the production; it sounds like a professional studio recording, but in classic Rock fashion it was recorded live, as a 5-piece, on the spot; a well-embellished live show, if you will. Opening piece "The Hole" sits somewhere on the edge between Hard Rock and Punk; very much MOTORHEAD-esque, if you ask me, both in vibe and arrangement. The drums stick out in the greatest way, recording with a gorgeous, organic resonance, as if straight from the vaults of LED ZEPELLIN. The tracks themselves are marvelous, but it is the recording quality that truly grabs me. Moving onto something completely different is "This Song Reminds Me of You". Riding on the waves of rich, funky riffs, Jim's voice sails at a breezy pace... For half of the song, anyway; the rest of the track slowly builds up to a slick, rocking crescendo that is myriad with razor-sharp guitar licks.

At 12 tracks, the more scrutinizing of you Rockers out there may be a little skeptical of whether or not you'll get through such a lengthy endeavour and not feel it the least bit monotonous. However, since the tracks are combed and picked out of the band's entire past discography, the album is incredibly diverse, since moving onto "Get That Girl", we've moved onto a quasi-Glam, Pop-Rock vibe, with lyrics dripping with equal parts cheese and equal parts charm. By the time of of "Fork in the Road", Punk seems to have taken over, it being possible the most upbeat and aggressive track on the album.

Starting out as a jam in front of a few friends, MOTOR SISTER, especially considering the calibre of the musicians, can well be expected to continue with a future discography, perhaps some originals along the way; it will be well-worth the wait.