Diamonds & Studs

Morningwood | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Morningwood
• ASIN: B002NACY9U
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,815 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2009 album from the riff-shredding, lovably raunch-friendly rockers. Diamonds & Studs was co-produced by renowned DJ/producer Junior Sanchez. Led by Chantal Claret on vocals and Pedro Yanowitz on drums, percussion, bass, vocals and keys - the Big Apple (now bi-coastal) outfit formed in 2001, molding elements of Hard Rock, Punk, New Wave, and Glam Rock into a sex-driven amalgam of sound. The band first saw mainstream success in 2006 with the hit song 'Nth Degree' from their debut self-titled album. The album entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart at #1. Along with numerous television appearances and international touring, the band's music has been featured in over 50 TV shows, commercials, video games and movies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars DOESNT ROCK HARD ENOUGH FOR ME...SEMI-UNORIGINAL BUT GOOD EFFORT OVERALL, October 22, 2010

By 

Lucy Tonic "Lucy Tonic" (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diamonds & Studs (Audio CD)

The first single and opening track off the album, "Best of Me," has already been selected as the theme song for VH1's Daisy of Love, and rightfully so, as it's radio friendly, has a cheesy chorus and has an angry female singing the vocals.

The next track, "Killer Life," is a bit more reflective of the pop-rock genre, and definitely puts Morningwood in the same vein as artists like Flyleaf, Paramore and the Dandy Warhols.

Track five, "Snobby Little Elf," is probably my favorite "upbeat" track on the album. Although I'm not sure what the song is about, when Claret sings "Hey, this is strange," it stays in your head long after the album is over.

"Sugarbaby" does rock out harder than expected for a song of that title, while I can see "Addicted" being the song that females blast on their iPods to get their pop fix while giving the silent middle finger to their A-hole boyfriends.

I was secretly expecting not to like "Bipolar Bear," as it's already a favorite song of mine by Stone Temple Pilots, but yet again, Claret's vocals and powerful one liners like "I will f*** you up," made the song tolerable.

"That's My Tune," with its Ting Tings melody, will surely become a radio hit, while the last two songs on the album are arguably the best.

"Three's a Crowd" works because you get to hear the layered vocals of both Chantal Claret and Pedro Yanowitz (who surprisingly used to be the drummer for The Wallflowers.) "Cat in a Box," besides being the slowest and concluding track on the album, is very reminiscent of vintage No Doubt (think, "Greener Pastures,") and that's a compliment.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than ever!, October 28, 2009

By 

Happypants "happypants" (new York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diamonds & Studs (Audio CD)

Once again morningwood aims to please, and they succeeded, their second record and better than the first. So happy they finally came out with another record. I have been a fan for a long time, and they do not fail me. From Hot Tonight to Cat in a Box the record is a nonstop compliment of one great song after another. I hope this time they get the respect they deserve.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars morningwood is back!, October 27, 2009

By 

kuro neko (honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diamonds & Studs (Audio CD)

morningwood is back and better than ever! in a lot of ways this album is a fresh start for the band. with their big label and self-titled debut three years ago, Morningwood, some were left with a rushed feeling. the band's relationship with the label seemed a bit rushed and the album didn't feel like it lived up to all that it could be. flash forward three years down the line and here we have it, the album that their self-titled debut should have been. here we find songs that have taken a full three years to come to fruition, spanning a variety of genres and solidifying into one solid sound for the band. morningwood is and has been chantal and pedro, and here we find a labor of love shared between the two between two coasts. the album, as chantal as put it herself, is like loud pop music. morningwood rocks hard but has always been fans of pop and here we find the two seamlessly worked together, with tracks that schools don't have to be embarrassed about to rock on the bus on the way home from school. the album also finds a branching out in style, albeit the taste is a bit too short and sweet, with the last track, Cat In a Box. Chantal said during a performance that she writes so many songs about hooking up it would only make sense to write a cautionary tale as well. in this song we see morningwood flirting with a slower simmering torch of number, making for a sultry late night love affair. Songs like Sugarbaby prove that morningwood can still rock as hard as they did in Jetsetter, while Bipolar Bear and Three's A Crowd flirt with the style that made morningwood famous with songs like Take Off Your Clothes and Nth Degree. It should also be said that this album marks a fresh and somewhat more of an indie start for the band. This album was released through an exclusive partnership with Vh1 (which is part of Mtv Networks) and the amazon listing shows "morningwood" for the label, which leads me to believe that the band and Vh1 have both partnered to bring us this release. Which means that if this album does well, both succeed, and vice versa. Therefore this release is worth paying for for the sole purpose of supporting great, and in some senses, emerging artists. do yourself a favor and check it out, morningwood rocks!