Customer Reviews

Black And White Album

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I rarely give something brand new a 5-star rating, only because I tend to think that an item has to stand the quality test of time before I can comfortably say, "I love it!", but The Hives have quite simply secured my vote with their musical attitude.

I first saw the Hives on one of those sinful MTV shows (movie awards? music awards? is there a difference?) and one of the corporate trend-analysts-cum-vee-jay was talking about the rise of the 'The' bands, and the next feature (after commercial) was to be a classic 'Battle of the Bands,' featuring The Hives and The Vines.

As soon as the commercial break was over, and the so-called Battle began, it became quite clear who were MTV's boys. The Vines played in the center of the ungodly large stage, and The Hives were set up in the furthest corner of stage right. The 5 Hives were crammed together and of course played a tight rendition of "Hate to Say I Told You So" through an equalizer set-up that was probably done by the lowest intern on the food chain, while the 3 Vines strutted about in their MTV mansion and the singer did everything he could to make sure we thought that he didn't want to be there. Of course, the cramped quarters worked wonders for The Hives, for a band that stands close together plays close together, while The Vines were trying too hard to not look like corporate lapdogs.

Immediately, I knew that The Hives had something special going on, a purist energy that was both serious and playful, self-effacing and lacking the quality of giving a hoot about it, while The Vines were going to have a short career that would spiral into pretension and tediousness. The Vines wanted to be a mix of Kim Gordon and The Beatles, while The Hives were there to play, damn the consequences and who might be listening (or not wanting to listen). The kitschy matching suits, the bravado of their image (this album titles each band member His Royal Highness Prince)--all of it shows a desire in The Hives to make fun of themselves in their bravado, so that the real focus is always the music itself.

While previous albums carried themselves on their tight, energetic, basement sound, this album has a little more refinement--but not so much to lose track of the fact that these guys are quite simply the most balls-to-the-wall band in the popular limelight right now. From the head-bobbing energy of the first single, "Tick Tick Boom," to the vocal meltdown into wordless energy in "Return the Favour," The Hives have freneticism in spades. There are, of course, some attempts for new direction with the lounge-meets-Zelda "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" and the almost disco drive of "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." and the Swedish-country gallop of "Giddy Up!" These are interesting tracks, especially since The Hives merely remind us that they think about their sound and are willing to try out something new, as long as it remains fun.

By the time I finished my first listen, I wanted to go back to the beginning and go through it all again. That is rare enough, I find, for a new release, so high marks for this release from a band that is here to remind us that US pop has already become an overspecialized dinosaur, and that we need to start listening to some real Garage rock again.

Hi friends.
Above average Hives fan, keep that in mind.

It's 2007, folks. People are downloading singles or buying albums designed to be full albums. The Hives know this and give (as always) the biggest bang for the buck: fourteen songs priced for EVERYONE to afford, which sound BEST all together, and in chronological order.

You have got the classic Hives songs for the familiar: Tick Tick Boom, Try It Again, You Got It All... Wrong, Hey Little World, Won't Be Long, Return the Favour, Square One Here I Come, Bigger Hole to Fill. Great, fast, upbeat songs. Lots of places to sing along by the time you get to the second chorus, they are THAT catchy. Guitars sound great, some wonderful piano accompanying songs, bass is deep and prominent.

The amount of excellent classic Hives songs on this album meets or exceeds the number of standout tracks on their other great CD's, so right off the bat, this CD is very satisfying. I've asked other Hives-loving friends of mine how they feel for the album, and while we all have different favorite songs from the classic sounding tracks, we dig them all.

But here's where it becomes an album, the songs in between: Well All Right! (zoot suit big band sound), A Stroll Though Hive Manor Corridors (a droning instrumental organ song that makes Won't Be Long TEN times cooler when listened back to back), T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S. (turns into the most self-absorbed cheesy AND FUN disco song, right up there with their superiority complex), Giddy Up! (a lusty DEVO-like disco track), You Dress Up For Armageddon (fun, swinging rocker) and Puppet On a String (slow, droning piano track).

These fun, experimental new tracks, when listened to in proper CD track order, make the album so much more fun. You get a fun smile about how different or kooky these oddball tracks are, and then before you wonder if the Hives have "lost their touch", you get a KILLER classic sounding song immediately afterwards. And, by the time you listen to the album 3x through, you come to love the oddball tracks for themselves.

The classic songs are astounding, the non-classic sounds are damn fun and kooky, but when they're all together, it's a full start-to-finish satisfying music experience. I'm so glad that The Hives are able to do what they do: evolve and make their music and shows affordable for everyone. With three long years between albums, I would want the band to mature, branch out and IMPROVE. I think they did all three with this.

I also recommend buying the UK version with the bonus track: Fall Is Just Something That Grownups Invented. It's 100 mph of Hives fun, and (since the track order of this album is key to its enjoyment) goes perfectly after Bigger Hole To Fill.

The Hives' "Black and White Album" is exactly what you think it's going to be...a series of catchy, manic songs crisply played with abandon.

The album roars from the start, with the terrific one-two punch of "Tick Tick Boom" and "Try It Again". "Tick" kickstarts everything with a fake-tune-up, wandering-around-the-stage snippet of noise, before launching into howling "Yeahs!" Churning guitars back up the ping-pong vocals, and the sudden silent brake stops are thrilling. LOOOOOVE the "booms". It's a kick.

"Try It Again", with plenty of power chords to pogo to, just blasts out of speakers. The sassy cheerleading backups somehow work...this is modern rock that has an equal chance of making you smile as make you dance.

As other reviewers have noted, there's a "sameness" to many of the tracks, and they proudly wear their influences on their collective sleeves. That's fine with me. I listen to a Hives song to get exactly this sort of vibe and energy, and they are perfectly happy to supply me with some. Smart bands know how to incorporate their history with their "art". I find it fun to pick out the "Devo" moment, or their Midnight Star crib.

"Midnight Star" you ask? Well, I have to admit, during the song, "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S." I couldn't get the "Z.O.I.D.S." spelling chant out of my head, from the song, "Freak-a-zoid." But the chorus also has an 80's New Wave sound as well...

"Square One Here I Come" is another headlong sprint of a rock song, with an irresistible guitar hook. Actually, the song has like FOUR guitar hooks...man, if this song had been around for those Airband Mock Rock contests back at UCLA in the early 80's...

This is one fun album to listen to...

Una sola palabra: adictivo. Había planificado escribir la reseña de Magic, el nuevo disco de Bruce Sprigsteen. Estaba avanzando muy motivado por el tremendo trabajo que 'The Boss' viene realizando en el nuevo milenio, cuando cometí un error mortal: compré el recién salido The Black and White Album de The Hives. Ahora no puedo parar, lo escucho una y otra vez, en la combi, en el baño, bailo en mi cuarto, muevo la cabeza como un zombi en la chamba; he caído noqueado ante el nuevo puñetazo de estos suecos... y sigo, fiel al golpe.
Todavía aturdido puedo decir que el cuarto disco de estudio de The Hives en diez años es el mejor de su carrera. Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, el inquieto cantante de la banda (que en el escenario es una chillona combinación de Mick Jagger e Iggy Pop), esta vez muestra sus mejores registros vocales y va del grave al agudo con mayor naturalidad y solvencia que en grabaciones pasadas (It Won't Be Long y el final Bigger Hole To Fill son prueba de ello). El resto, el fantástico Chris Dangerous (batería), Dr. Matt Destruction (bajo) y los guitarristas Vigilante Carlstroem y Nicholaus Arson; componen una base musical potente y difícil de igualar en estos días.
Continúa el fascinante rock acelerado de riffs afilados que siempre caracterizó al grupo, sin embargo, lo más sorprendente y contagioso de The Black and White Album es su versatilidad rítmica y melódica, lo que no se pudo escuchar del todo en los discos anteriores. Salvo por un par de tracks, Veni Vidi Vicious (segundo larga duración de la banda, 2000) era un fogonazo continuo, mientras que con el excelente Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004) el grupo exploró nuevos sonidos pero sin arriesgarse del todo.
Ahora que cambiaron de traje (negro por blanco) los suecos se atreven a tocar funk en la altanera T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S. (que incluso es algo `disco', a lo Earth, Wind & Fire), algo de punk a lo Ramones (Return The Favour), una misteriosa cantata en piano (Puppet On A String, que bien podría formar parte del repertorio de Tom Waits), o inclusive una simple melodía instrumental con órgano y una caja de ritmos (la sorpresiva A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors). Ahora usan mucho más el sintetizador y el resultado mejora el timbre general de la banda, con holgura.
Claro que en el resultado tienen que ver, y mucho, los productores que han trabajado en The Black and White Album (La calidad del sonido también supera a los discos anteriores). Pharrell Williams, el famoso cantante de rap (N*E*R*D) y productor ganador del Grammy, trabajó en varias de las canciones del disco. Se puede apreciar su `mano' en la irresistiblemente bailable Well Allright! (Howlin' aúlla "Everyone's a loser in the modern world") y la mencionada T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S. Otro ganador de la academia de la música, Jacknife Lee (que hizo Vertigo de U2 y ahora produce del próximo disco de R.E.M.), es el responsable de Hey Little World. El resultado es de primera.
¿Lo mejor del disco? El inicio. Si no te mueves con Tick Tick Boom (en mi opinión, candidata a canción del año), Try It Again y su coro femenino (que grita el pegajoso estribillo "Up from the floor on the count of ten, oh you get up, you get down and you try it again"), y You Got It All... Wrong, simplemente no tienes músculos en el cuerpo.
Que continúe el baile desenfrenado.

There is an air of last-ditch desperation surrounding The Hives' latest full-length album. But it is - like Veni Vidi Vicious and Tyrannosaurus Hives - plagued by the band's biggest asset/detriment. From the beginning, The Hives have maintained that they are the only band that matters, from "The Hives are law; You are crime" to the brazen cockiness of calling a CD Your New Favorite Band. That attitude lends itself to the full-on assault that makes the opening salvo "Tick Tick Boom" a turbo charged potential garage rock classic, and then the hook-laden second track, "Try It Again" is all dance-floor stomp with a kiddie chorus. Do you miss The Ramones? Pine for Detroit noise from early Iggy or The MC5? These tracks and "Return The Favor" fill that bigger hole and The Hives are ready to do anything in their considerable powers to insure that you not only hear it, but feel it.

Those first two songs are everything The Hives (and their most rabid legion of fans) claim they are. Twin guitar slams of attitudes that just overwhelm you with their energy and frontman "Howling" Pete's undeniable force of rock. But that all-encompassing belief that they are an amazing band and you need to know it forces dopey leftovers like the instrumental "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" and the draggy piano based "Puppet on a Sting" left on a CD to show the band's warts. For The Hives detractors, these indulgences (including the DEVO-ish "Giddy Up") are all the evidence they need to dismiss the band as cartoon posers, Stooges wannabes without the guts to make it stick.

"The Black and White Album" is the sound of The Hives trying to overcome that adversarial barrier to the stardom they obviously feel they deserve. The two tracks with Pharrel Williams, "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S" scream mainstream single, with the self-shout-out of "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S" seeming to beg for success ala Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust." (I should add that it is my second or third favorite track on the CD.) This may also be the cleanest sounding Hives album so far, forcing their neo-garage assault into sharp, and yes, black-and-white relief. It makes "The Black and White Album" The Hives' most adventurous and (dare I say it) most likely album for world-class success.

Every time I put on a Hives album I just want to scream out and start dancing around like an idiot. Theyre music is so explosive, so fun, so great, and it never gets old. They change things up enough on this record from their previous to keep you on your toes, and it sounds less of a retro 60s garage rock band. I love these guys and if I ever need to get pumped up for the day, I throw on the Hives...

(4.5 *'s) Nothing has rejuvenated the airwaves like The Hives' "Hate to Say I Told You So." Crescendo and angst about who-knows-what? Gets the answer: Who cares? 'The Black and White Album' finds the fabulous five Swedes with none of the trappings of success. What makes this album a worthy successor to the remarkably fast-forward 'Veni, Vidi, Vicious'* is the variety. Add to this the fact they've yet to take themselves too seriously, and, '...Black and White...,' while not as groundbreaking, draws on an expertise that prevents any formula. As an ABBA aficionado, The Hives covers more Swedish territory. From slick and sweet to awesomely wild, The Hives do Scandinavia proud!

Highlights only Please! Okay, I'll try.

1.) "Tick Tick Boom" is incredibly propulsive. Almost matches "Hate to Say I Told You So." Found on recent soundtracks, including 'Jumper'. Hollywood `Get(s) Smart'.

2.) "You Got It All Wrong," "Hey Little World," and "Return the Favor" are expansive. Great trajectory, yet they manage to mix it up better than The Ramones did.

3.) The whole idea is fun, so "Well All Right!" "You Dress up for Armageddon," and "Square One, Here I Come" fill the bill. "Puppet on a String" reinvents the wheel nicely.

4.) "Big Bang Theory"? "Try It Again," "Won't Be Long," and "Bigger Hole to Fill" are harder rockin' evidence.

5.) "Variety is the spice of life." "T.H.E. H.I.V.E.S." showcase a Mick Jagger-like vocal. Now I thought The Hives drew from The Kinks and The Dave Clark Five, but the columnists were right, there are Stones' influences. "Giddy Up" funks it up nicely. (Are they singing about `Urban Cowboy,' `Brokeback Mountain,' or protesting the foreign policy of President Bush? I haven't decided yet.) "A Stroll Through Hive Mansion" shows no false modesty: We need an intermission, but this carnival music for a flea circus is a little too tame. Maybe they should have consulted R.E.M. before creating an instrumental.

The Hives still are fun after all these years, but their experience only expands their already impressive repertoire.

(I know 'Tyranasaurus Hives,' came just before 'Black and White,' but I prefer to compare 'Veni Vidi Vicious'.)

This cd was awesome, tick tick boom and wont be long are just two great songs, and T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S. was a great hip hop type of song!
This album ROCKED

God, I love the Hives. Rock lives, and its name is the Hives. Attitude, loud guitars, vocals that are pushed to the limits (and often beyond) the capabilities of the vocalist, clever arrangements... the Hives are Rock.

The Black and White Album is a bit on the Pop side compared to previous Hives outings, but don't let that shake you, this is still a rock band. The songs that lack the ferocity of Tyrannosaurus Hives and Vini Vidi are viindicated by clever orchestration of respective instruments and the sharp wit of the swedes.

There is the issue of "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" however... I tend to skip this track, because it sort of cripples the momentum of the album. This would have been an excellent candidate for an end-of-the-album-hidden-track. If I hadn't seen a name and track listed I wouldn't have expected anything, but it was and I did and it just doesn't deliver. However, as the only low point on the album... well, I guess I can deal with it.

The Hives: know them, love them, buy them.

The hives have learn how to make give their music variety. This album is a bit different that the usual hives, but nonetheless these tunes are still catchy and great. One of the best albums i have heard. Bought this album when it came out in Nov and i still cant get tired of it. Wish we had more bands like them, then again, no one can ever compare to the Hives.