Customer Reviews

By the Grace of God

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a big Hellacopters fan, but I was a little dissapointed with this release. It's very produced, and lacks the rawness of earlier albums. There's about 4 songs on the album that I think are great, though - classic Hellacopters. Most songs are somewhat "poppy", even cheesy (especially the chorus'). What I like about The Hellacopters is their truely authentic 70's Rock sound, and similarities to say Thin Lizzy, and Ted Nugent. This album sounds like they moved into the mid-80's (and not the GOOD mid-80's), with more similarities to say, Boston, or dare I say, Foreigner, or something...My favorite Hellacopters releases are still "Grande Rock" and "High Visibility". I hope they go back to the sound of these albums on their future releases...

This is a must have cd for any fan of the band. For the uninitiated, however, "By The Grace" is not the best place to start if you want to experience the harder rocking, MC5 inspired sound, which put the band on the map. "Grace" contains more melodies, has better "production" and a tighter sound than previous albums, but personally that means commerical success (not quite a sell-out at this point). The twin guitar attack is mellowed in the mix in favor of song structure and overall restraint. At times the band comes off sounding more like the Romantics than MC5. But again, that's my personal opinion. I'm a metal head by trade and tend to view the albums from that perspective.
So if you like your "hard rock" a bit on the mellower side (even though that might be a contradiction in terms), this album might be for you. But if the intro to "Kick Out The Jams" is what moves you, opt for previous albums "Payin' The Dues" or "Grande Rock".

Great rock album. Gotta kind of wonder what happened in between Payin' The Dues and this album. This album is much more slick and restrained with a more clean sound. Definitely a lot of time spent on production. Kind of lost the harder more punk edge. Definitely has kind of a "classic rock" feel to it. Songs have more structure and are more radio friendly. Different from the stuff I've heard from them previously...but not "bad" different. Just different. Took me by surprise most definitely.

The Hellacopters are the MC5 for a new generation. It is a pity however that the generation hasn't discovered them yet. It is almost criminal that bands like this go undiscovered and unheard while groups like Nickelback and Linkin Park are thrust upon us through the back pockets of record execs giving payouts to commercial radio stations. This is one of the best rock & roll albums I've heard in years. I've had it for about 6 months and it is still in regular rotation, there's just something about it that makes it special. It may be that the keyboards has added an extra dimension to the sound, something that seemed a bit missing on their earlier albums. One of the best things about these guys are their consistency, the just do not make any bad songs and all the ones here are great. There is a slight, very slight valley in the middle of the album around tracks 8 and 9 where the tempo slows down a little but really, I am only splitting hairs.

If I must a point from Rick Kutneroe's great review at allmusic.com, they have proved that the term classic rock doesn't only apply to music from decades ago. True lovers and rock & roll unite and rock with the Hellacopters!

The Hellacopters have their roots in the 1970's rock and you can easily hear that these guys have listened to early Kiss a lot. "By the grace of God" and the equally good "High visability" displays a band that have the melody, the groove, and the more or less "dirty" rock sound that got lost sometimes in the late 70's.

"By the grace of God" include several songs with hit potential like the title track, "Carry me home", "Down on free street", "Rainy days revisited" among others. ...

Amazon claims that this is The Hellacopters second album - WRONG! The band have released at least five records but it's on this one and the former "High visiblility" the band shows how good they really are. The earlier albums is more raw and dirty - don't buy them unheard!

This is a killer collection of songs from a band who knows how to rock. This is so fun to listen to. I especially like listening to it as I'm driving down the highway because it moves so fast. Love it. I highly recommend it.

No matching black suits, no stupid fake macho names, just more smokin' rock 'n' roll from one of the most underrated ( and un-noticed) bands out there. Everything about this album is better than any of their previous work (not to say they don't rock)...the production, the songs, the band, Nicke's voice, etc.
Boba's piano & organ seems to fit better than before, and the songs are more, dare I say, "poppy-er", but they still have that edge that makes 'em rock.
This album doesn't even fit in the so-called "garage rock" category. They seem to have moved into a new area that isn't like any of their previous work. But if you're a fan of gold ol' fashioned rock 'n' roll, GET THIS CD!!! After you listen to it, do yourself an even bigger favor by seeing them live...you will not be disappointed! The only reservation I have is, when it's this good, where do they go from here?!?

Big guitar riffs, pounding piano, super catchy tunes. By the Grace of God makes me happy...an inspiration to dig into the closet and pull out my old leather jacket and air guitar in the living room with the stereo up to 11. For those who dig the big sounds of super charged 70's arena rawk (with some Big Star thrown into the mix and nasty Motor City 5 kicking your jams all over the place)or the likes of Nebula, Kyuss. The Hellacopters Rawk.

Maybe it's just me, but 'By The Grace Of God' appears to be a bit less heavy than the other CD's I've heard by the Hellacopters - but don't get me wrong - understand it's still good and all. Maybe this effort is just what some patrons (like myself) may consider to be radio friendly. Tunes like "Down On The Free Street", "It's Good But It Ain't Right" and "On Time" simply didn't manage to knock me out of my chair like some of the band's other releases. However, I thought the almost-mainstream "U.Y.F.S." definitely had the potential to 'catch on' with the proper airplay. Too bad they disbanded last year. I say, give them time - reunions are huge these days.

OK, it is definitely not as hard-hitting or punkish as some of the earlier Hellacopters. This one shows some minor influences from the affiliations of the members of Hellacopters with another great Swedish band, Diamond Dogs. Personally I think it is all for the good though. It is still Rock and I mean Real Rock, give me a lightening bolt with that one. This is not your Daddy's Classic Rock by any means (BTW, I'm over 50 so I know classic rock). This stuff kicks out the jams. MC5 would be proud of these guys for updating their sound and holding true. See them live if you can for the real Real Thing.