Status Quo: In Search of the Fourth Chord

British rock fans, as they’ve done with every Status Quo record since the ‘70s, bought enough copies of In Search of the Fourth Chord for it to chart impressively and need no background info about the new album. But as Quo never broke huge in the States, Yanks might be unaware that 2009 marked a reunion with producer Pip Williams, who was at the helm of some of the band’s most definitive ‘70s and ‘80s work, and that the title of the new record is a cheeky reference to the long-standing joke that Quo has relied on the same three chords for their entire career.  By owning this joke, though, guit-arse kickers Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt help celebrate their exuberant legacy, banging out another uncompromising round of sheeny boogie-rock as if the last twenty years of alternative rock trends never happened.  The highlights this time are the full-throttled leadoff track “Beginning of The End” (great video, also, with band riding (and rocking) the London Eye), the classic-era Quo chug of “I Don’t Wanna Hurt You Anymore”, and the greasy six-string assault of “Bad News”. And, yes, there’s a fourth chord in there a time or two, but don’t worry—it’s nothing to keep the Quo from giving you whatever you want, whatever you like.