Customer Reviews

Deadache

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

 

 

I've been listening to Lordi for a while and although this album isn't bad...in fact far from it. It's just very clear listening to it that Lori was going through an experimental stage when making this album. From the sounds of it the music seems to remain intact for the most part, the only change being an attempt to expand their skills muscially.

The album is hit and miss really. Half of the album is pure gold, ranking right up there with the best of there songs. Sadly the other half falls short and unfortunately must be filed into the "music by numbers" category. However, again, this shows they are trying to find what works and what doesn't.

If you're curious about the band I would sugguest picking up GET HEAVY first. Not only is it their debut album, but it still ranks as the prime example of what is LORDI, and that is monster rock and horror themed love ballads.

I had the pleasure of first experiencing LORDI at the 2007 Ozzfest tour. As one of the four main stage acts, I was really curious as to what the band was all about and what warranted a main stage nod with the likes of the great Ozzy Osborne. When LORDI hit the stage a gigantic grin immediately crept across my face. A wonderful medley of pyrotechnics, costume, showmanship, and pure classic Metal fury enveloped the audience. From the get go, I knew these guys (and gal) could rock!

Needless to say, after that show I became an instant LORDI fan. Many compare the band to the likes of GWAR, which is a very narrow observation. Sure, LORDI wears gorrific costumes, but the foundation and overall look of the band is a much more unified complexity as opposed to pure shock value. Furthermore, LORDI's musicianship surpasses the likes of GWAR. I like GWAR; I love LORDI. A more fair comparison would be the likes of Alice Cooper, Motorhead, and Twisted Sister.

Deadache, the band's fourth studio album, brings a bit more edge to their musical ascension. Songs such as "Bite It Like A Bulldog" and "Man Skin Boots" jump out as immediate favorites indicative of their earlier hits. But after listening to the album a few more times, the journey becomes even more enjoyable. "Girls Go Chopping" and "Dr. Sin Is In" contain some hilarious lyrics (even a Miss Piggy reference), while the title track "Deadache" and "Missing Miss Charlene" continue to resonate in my head on a daily basis.

If you're a fan of bands/performers like KISS, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, and/or Twisted Sister, definitely check out LORDI. I would also recommend purchasing their debut album, Get Heavy.

When I first discovered Lordi with their debut song, Blood Red Sandman. I kinda knew that they will stand out among others with their unique sound and well....appearance. Then the Eurovision success came. Frankly speaking The Arokalypse wasn't their best album. But Deadache is. You will discover why Lordi is so good once again. Too bad they've left out one their best work -Hate At First Sight- from Deadache regular release, it's available in the digipak copy which I'm not sure will be released in North America. The smart song names are my favorite in this album, like "Girls Go Chopping, Raise Hell In Heaven, Deadache and Hate At First Sight" And I can't point a single song that I can rate as below awesome.

I really hope that Lordi will be around for the longest time possible.

Got a "deadache"? No problem, take two asprin and hang tight: "Dr. Sin is In" tomorrow. When it comes to absurdist humor, the Scandanavians wrote the book and Lordi is no exception. From this perspective, "Deadache" is wonderfully funny stuff. For example, "Girls Go Chopping" is enough to make any male chauvinist want to duck and cover...and "Raise Hell in Heaven" (like "The Devil is a Loser") spoofs the dark side.

Beyond this, "Deadache" presents some surprisingly intricate compositions. To appreciate this, one should attempt to filter out Mr. Lordi's ravaged-throat vocals and concentrate on the instrumental interplay. It's not Beethoven, but it is very good popular music. The mix is technically adequate.

Bottom line: from the ABBA-like title song to the next off-color hockey arena anthem ("Bite It Like a Bulldog"), this album has something for almost anyone with an open mind and a sense of humor.

As an MP3 download, "Deadache" arrives with enough resolution to sound adequate but not compelling. If high quality sound matters to you, you might want to purchase the CD and rip it yourself at a higher bit rate.

Got a "deadache"? No problem, take two asprin and hang tight: "Dr. Sin is In" tomorrow. When it comes to absurdist humor, the Scandanavians wrote the book and Lordi is no exception. From this perspective, "Deadache" is wonderfully funny stuff. For example, "Girls Go Chopping" is enough to make any male chauvinist want to duck and cover...and "Raise Hell in Heaven" (like "The Devil is a Loser") spoofs the dark side.

Beyond this, "Deadache" presents some surprisingly intricate compositions. To appreciate this, one should attempt to filter out Mr. Lordi's increasingly ravaged-throat vocals and concentrate on the instrumental interplay. It's not Beethoven, but it is very good popular music. The mix is technically adequate.

Bottom line: from the ABBA-like title song to the next off-color hockey arena anthem ("Bite It Like a Bulldog"), this album has something for almost anyone with an open mind and a sense of humor. Enjoy!

I've been a bit late in reviewing this album because I wanted to get a good enough feel of it to justify giving it a less-than-perfect rating. Lordi has been my favorite band for six years now, and up until "Deadache", I considered each album they released to have topped the last: Get Heavy got me through my school years, The Monsterican Dream was officially the first time I anticipated the release of a CD, and The Arockalypse was, plain and simple, a gift from hard rock heaven. Needless to say, I was very excited about the Finn band's fourth outing...but after two years of drooling for new sounds of sweet Monsterican goodness, I'm left disappointed. Not heartbroken, mind you, but let-down nonetheless. Lordi can definitely do better.

1. "SCG IV" - Just a short, mandatory intro, so there's not much to say about it, other than that the little rhyme's less-than-witty lyrics ("...bathtub smelly clumpy red, mommy kiss good night the dead") foretell one of my major gripes with the album.

2. "Girls Go Chopping" - I really didn't enjoy this song at first, but repeated listening places it on the favorable side of competent. I'd argue about its worthiness as the opening number, but the lyrics are pretty darn funny and the simple, screaming chorus make me count my blessings. A decent start.

3. "Bite it like a Bulldog" - The first single of the album best showcases the band's altered musical direction. I didn't like it at first, but a few turns on my CD player eventually made me consider it more favorably. Though very much a melodic number, the song's stomping pace and chorus don't hook the ears as immediately as Devil Is A Loser or Hard Rock Hallelujah did. It kinda sounds like something that could've been included on "The Monsterican Dream" but is a bit too conventionally alternative-sounding to qualify as among the band's best.

4. "Monsters Keep Me Company" - I really, really don't like this one. This is a slow, drawling grunt of a song with instrumentation consisting of paced beats of guitar and drums. Very bland, very boring, with no chorus worth mentioning to come to the rescue. I can see a lot of people skipping this one regularly.

5. "Man Skin Boots" - A thumper of a song that I'm still not entirely sure about. The pounding beat and get-to-the-good-stuff mentality will surely make this a crowd favorite once the monsters start playing it live, but while the quality's there, I just can't get around to singing it to myself while I'm going about my work. I leave it to the rest of the fans to decide for themselves.

6. "Dr. Sin Is In" - Though it sports industrial metal-inspired riffs, I consider this the first real Lordi song on the record, featuring a sweet chorus and nice backing vocals by the always-awesome Kita aiding lyrics right out of the "Monsterican Dream" song book. Yes!

7. "The Ghost of the Heceta Head" - Enter the keyboards! The song will make you think you're back in "Get Heavy" territory. Everything from the choral arrangements, lyrics, and instrumentation takes a step back six years to a rawer style. The chorus is decent, but thus far, Lordi are failing to live up to their reputation as the Bon Jovi of heavy metal songwriting.

8. "Evilyn" - The second "slow song" of the album is the winner. It's not "It Snows in Hell", but the steel-against-razors combination of the guitars and Lordi's vocals are perfect complements. Put it on your playlist.

9. "The Rebirth of the Countess" - This is the kind of track that inspires true animosity in me. As the long-awaited (at least by me) follow-up to Enary's "Magistra Nocte", "Countess" is infinitely inferior for mucking up Awa's piano-playing with ceaseless sound effects and creature noises. The spoken word portion of the track adds nothing unless you understand French. Ick ick ick.

10. "Raise Hell in Heaven" - Though there's no lack of enthusiasm here, the chorus is a real pulled-from-the-butt effort. It's trying to be "Rock the Hell Outta You", but barely even gets to heck.

11. "Deadache" - The album's second single is one of the most unusual songs that Lordi have done. In addition to being a melodic high for the band, it's practically a duet between Lordi and Kita: the latter never sings on his own, but his voice is practically on the same level as Lordi's as they sing two-thirds of the number together. The chorus takes some getting used to, but is eventually likeable.

12. "The Devil Hides Behind Her Smile" - My favorite song of the album. The storyline, beat, and sing-along chorus ("Whoa-oh! Whoa-oh-oh!") are all prime Lordi material. Shame it's not quite strong enough on its own to be a single...

13. "Missing Miss Charlene" - A good song, if not a good closing number. A nice long chorus, haunting lyrics, and some boisterous backing vocals distract the fact that the song can't decide whether it wants to be heavy or not. I have a feeling that this one will be considered as a single but will be turned down.

Bonus tracks: I wasn't sure whether I should include these, since you get none of them on this version on the album (not cool, Lordi - don't gouge your fans for more cash when they've already bought the main album!), but since all of these are better songs than the majority of the stuff on the main CD, it can't really hurt for me to draw attention to them, can it?

"Dead Bugs Bite" (iTunes exclusive) - A very, very glorious number, possibly the best of the entire collection, album songs included. Think "Supermonstars": never-say-die lyrics and a rock-the-80s pop metal chorus that'll have anybody singing along. A real feel-good song that has no business not being a single.

"The House" (Finland version exclusive) - Lordi has a good sense for which songs to remake, and fellow Finn-band Dingo's "The House Without A Name" is no exception. More than just a cover, Lordi really make it their own by restyling the lyrics a'la Pet Sematary and cranking up the heaviness to score a definite hit with a delightful chorus and much replay value.

"Hate At First Sight" (Digipak exclusive) - The sister song of 2006's "Evilove" is a guitar-led track with some juicy lyrics and... Shoot, do ALL of these bonus numbers have a better chorus than anything on the actual album? This one doesn't break the trend!

"Where's the Dragon?" (Japan version/"Deadache" single) - Those lucky Japanese. I really like this song. A foot-tapping beat blasts into an awesome chorus, followed by a neato guitar solo ("Have you seen it, Amen?!"). While it's not worth paying $50+ for the Japanese release, be sure to pick up the second single because of it!

I never thought that I'd be considering a Lordi album mediocre, but in the truest sense of the word, that's what "Deadache" is. I'm not sure if the monsters intended to eliminate the pop sound of their previous work, but if revolutionizing Eurovision proved anything, it's that the band has little use to do anything other than indulge in what they do best; their classic sound is what won them fame and fans. While I recognized their sound on here, it failed to bring back the feelings I experienced when listening to their earlier works, so I feel very little personal connection to "Deadache". Make no mistake, I will still take offense to anybody who denies the fact that Lordi is the greatest band to hit the earth in the last twenty years, but as far ranking "Deadache" alongside their last three releases, it's closest to the back of the line.

This is a good Lordi album. It rocks! I hope they tour the us soon!