De zomerplaten van 2008
Voor mij zijn dit de drie zomerplaten van 2008:
Mötley Crüe - Saints Of Los Angeles
De reviews:
Mötley Crüe - Saints Of Los Angeles
Mötley Records
WTF, Mötley Crüe on AsIce, you ask? Yep, I’ve been listening to this record a lot lately and I know that a lot of our readers like this band as well, so it’s only fair to review the new Crüe record here.
The intro track ‘L.A.M.F.’ leads us to ‘Face Down In The Dirt’, a cool rocking song that starts off this album with a bang. Maybe you’ve noticed the title of their autobiography in the name of that song. Well, the whole album is based on the stories in ‘The Dirt’, so if you liked the book, you’ll like the lyrics on this album as well. It’s sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll all the way, but you’ll notice that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously and that’s a good thing.
All of the songs on ‘Saints Of Los Angeles’ are good, with the anthemic title track as the best one in my opinion. I also like ‘Welcome To The Machine’ and ‘Just Another Psycho’ a lot. And I should add ‘White Trash Circus’, ‘Chicks = Trouble’ and ‘Down At The Whisky’ to that. Hell, I can even listen to the ballad ‘The Animal In Me’ completely without skipping it! The music sounds really fresh, like the good old Crüe albums, but with a very modern production that makes it sound even better. It’s exactly what you want a new Mötley Crüe album to sound like.
To be honest, I never expected Mötley Crüe to record an album that’s as good as ‘Saints Of Los Angeles’. Maybe it’s because they got the original line-up together, I don’t know. The band has sold 80 million (!) albums until now, but I think that number will grow even higher because of their latest effort. Go check it out if you haven’t done it yet!
Airbourne - Runnin’ Wild
Roadrunner Records
No, this is not hardcore. But I know that a lot of people who read this really like AC/DC and Rose tattoo. And if you like those bands, you’ll like Airbourne as well!
The only reason you might not like this band is that they copy their fellow countrymen AC/DC and Rose tattoo a little too well. Some people just like the originals and no copies. Usually I’m one of those people, but I make exceptions for extraordinary good copycats like Airbourne.
Rock ‘n’ roll is still alive and kicking in Australia and Airbourne is the living proof of it. There are 11 tracks on Runnin’ Wild and they are all great. Seriously, no fillers. Every song will have you singing along in no time. It’s all just a bunch of great tunes for good times. Damn good production and mix as well. It rocks like hell!
Check out Airbourne on Myspace and be sure to check them out at Metropool, Hengelo on June 11th or at the IJsselhallen, Zwolle on June 22nd (with Judas Priest, Cavalera Conspiracy and Iced Earth). I know I’ll be there for sure!
H2O - Nothing To Prove
Bridge Nine Records
I know that a lot of you hated the previous H2O record ‘Go’. Personally I still like that poppy style they played on that album, but I can imagine that you all would like to hear some old fashioned H2O again. So, just like you, I was pretty excited to hear that ‘Nothing To Prove’ would be an album that reached back to the early years of the band. The first track that was up on MySpace, ‘1995’ is the first track of the album and it’s a pretty fast track that reminded me of the speedy ‘F.T.T.W.’ album, but with the slickness of ‘Thicker Than Water’.
But that doesn’t mean that every song on ‘Nothing To Prove’ sounds like that. Actually, it all sounds pretty poppy once again, like it did on ‘Go’. Overall it’s faster than the previous record though. Still it will probably not be old school enough for the people that wanted to hear another album like the H2O debut.
For me it’s a good record with catchy songs. Perfect for the summer. And with good lyrics too. Personal lyrics about friendship (‘Mitts’), love (‘Unconditional’), appearances (‘Heart On My Sleeve’), and the hardcore scene (‘What Happened?’). Toby doesn’t have to sing it all by himself, he’s got Freddy Cricien (Madball), Roger Miret (Agnostic Front), Civ (Gorilla Biscuits/CIV), Paul Delaney (Kill Your Idols/None More Black), Lord Ezec/Danny Diablo (Crown Of Thornz/Skarhead), Kevin Seconds (7Seconds), Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio) and Lou Koller (Sick Of It All) helping him out, among others. Yes, the H2O family is still tight as ever and everyone contributed to the new album.
In short: it’s not an old school H2O record, but I like it anyway.
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