Album Review: “Strikes” By Blackfoot

Strikes is the third studio album from the Native American rock band, Blackfoot. While their first and second albums were met with little to no enthusiasm, everything changed for the band when this record was released. Ricky Medlocke came from the earlier version of Skynyrd, but eventually found himself in a whole new setting in Blackfoot.

It took them almost a decade to finally get the attention they deserved, however, with their signing into Atco records being instrumental in pushing out the breakthrough album, Strikes. Blackfoot was already known to be a force to be reckoned with in the live setting, and they finally had a chance to showcase it in the studio environment this time. While Southern rock was already widespread by the time Blackfoot rose from obscurity, only a few could match the weight of their sound toe to toe.

Blackfoot didn’t need any kind of reinvention, only redirection and a renewed sense of focus since their sound was already formidable in its own right. Bassist Greg T. Walker said, “Strikes went gold real fast. And people started saying, ‘I like this new band Blackfoot.’ They were calling us an overnight success and we were saying, ‘Yeah, right – a ten-year overnight success!’”