Customer Reviews

Hardware

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

 

 

Initially released by Ariola in 1981,this gem of an album features caustic guitar riffs,monster grooves a la Bon Scott,and even a little Scorpions melodicity thrown in for good measure.The Maltese-born Marc Storace did a great job behind the mic and complimenting very well Fernando von Arb's mean guitar work.

In my opinion this is Krokus very best album. The songs on "Hardware" are over all strong, especially "Easy rocker", "She's got everything" and "Rock city" that is similar to AC/DC's "Overdose". The vocals are in fact also very Bon Scott-like. At this time Krokus had a more raw sound, but became more polished a few years later. This album should be a real treat to any fan of traditional heavy metal á la Accept, Saxon, Iron Maiden among others.

An awesome hard rock album. "She's Got Everything" is possibly their best song ever, its guitar solos are as good as Malmsteen or Hendrix!

very good c.d more of a ac-dc highway to hell sound not gonna say who recorded 1st but a all in all good recording not quite the grit h.2.h had but good

Originally released in 1981, this was the band's fifth album. Every bit as head-riveting all-out '80's metal as I remember. Tracks that had me keeping this CD reissue handy in my 'current rotation stack' for some moons to come were the awesome opener "Celebration" (I recall hearing this very cut played on late night FM radio, back then), "Mr. 69", their cover of Randy Bachman's "Burning Bones", the fist-pumping anthem "Rock City" and "Winning Man". It's all coming back to me now - can't think of the last time I heard this classic. Highly recommended.

Great 80's classic. Vocals get a little silly at times but Easy rocker,Burning Bones,Winning man and She's got Everthing are must have tunes. Sounds dated but still very strong.

A great release from an under appreciated band. Winning Man stands out as the best track.....very pleased with this effort from the band.

Hardware is Krokus' best album. Released in 1981, it was the album that broke Krokus in North America. Their earlier efforts, Pay It in Metal, and Metal Rendez-Vous were very rough around the edges. (Although Rendez-Vous did contain some very catchy tunes.) Hardware contained semi-hit single, Burning Bones. It received considerable airplay on CHOM-FM in Montreal, at least....

Many people thought this was AC/DC when they first heard it. The sound is very similar to Bon Scott-era AC/DC, including the vocals of Marc Storace, who was the son of an opera singer, and possessed a vocal range of several octaves. Most of the album is fairly uptempo. She's Got Everything picks up after opening track Burning Bones, and then leads into a very strong, mid tempo tune, Winning Man. Oddly enough, Krokus would re-record Winning Man on their 1987 release, Heart Attack- and not for the better. Mainly what made the songs on Hardware so good, was the slightly less commercial feel they had, in contrast to later Krokus albums. There are fun moments, such as side 1 closer, Smelly Nelly, and the very un-subtle Mr. Sixty-Nine. The rest of side 2 (again my vinyl years) has good hard rockers: Easy Rocker, Rock City and Mad Racket. All three are solid. The album ends with Celebration. An odd song which starts slowly with a lone guitar, foot-stomp drum sounds, and Storace's superb vocal work. It eventually explodes into full hard rock and ends with a chorus repeated over and over for a couple of minutes. Sound boring? No way! I defy you to listen to this song and not have it going through your head all day. This album had the classic Krokus lineup, with Storace, Fernando Von Arb (guitar), Chris Von Rohr (bass), Tommy Keifer (guitar)and Freddy Steady (drums)- And Freddy Steady has the greatest drummer name in rock history! How can you go wrong here? Buy it!