Hurricane Bar

Mando Diao | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 8, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B0007LXOGO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,148 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cut The Rope

2. God Knows

3. Clean Town

4. Down In The Past

5. You Can't Steal My Love

6. Added Family

7. Annie's Angle

8. If I Leave You

9. Ringing Bells

10. This Dream Is Over

11. White Wall

12. All My Senses

13. Kingdom & Glory

14. Next To Be Lowered

15. Clean Town - video

16. God Knows - video

17. Down In The Past - video

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive, November 5, 2005

By 

Thomas D. Ryan "American Hit Network" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hurricane Bar (Audio CD)

How did such ostensibly nice Swedish working-class lads come up with a name like Mando Diao? To an English-speaking-skewed mind like my own, it's a bit misleading, and before listening, I figured them for a Portuguese pop act, or a Brazilian rock band. Well, it'll be a cold day in hell before these guys warm up for the Gypsy Kings, and if they ever do, I hope that a few ambulances are at hand, because they will leave the crowd shell-shocked. Mando Diao are the latest (and one of the best) bands in the recent onslaught of fresh, pure rock and roll coming from the outposts of Europe. I don't want to compare them to the Strokes, the Hives, or Jet, although the temptation is strong. There's a bit of the Clash meets Generation X about their sound, more than a touch of Oasis about their pub-based image, and even a hint of the Beatles in their one/two punch of dual singer/songwriters. Too many new bands determine their posture before they develop a sound, but Mando Diao sound as if they are doing what comes naturally, and having some fun while doing it.
Hurricane Bar progresses with a wild abandon that suits the album title. The sound is youthful energy, slightly naïve but also self-aware. The lyrics are almost totally indecipherable - and even the lyric sheet doesn't help much, since the words rarely make much literal sense - but there are substantial hooks all over the record, and melodies that suck you in and don't let go. I don't know what song will be chosen, but "Clean Town" ought to be the first single, since it fires on all cylinders and does the best job of summing up the band's unique way of making a train wreck sound melodic and fun. Pardon my filthy mind, but "Down in the Past" (one of the few tunes where I could discern some meaning to the words) could (and should) do just as well, provided conservative radio stations don't pick up the same sexual allusions that I do.
Although most of the CD rocks like a garage band on steroids, there are moments of genuine diversity that proves them to be more than a one trick pony. "Added Family" is a moody tune that suggests vintage Robyn Hitchcock, while "All My Senses" features an organ break that makes cheeky reference to the Doors' "Light My Fire". There's even a charming acoustic tune called `Ringing Bells" which helps to pace the record quite nicely.
Today's pop charts might indicate that the glory days of rock and roll are long over, but the current upsurge in talented, hard-hitting bands indicates otherwise. At present, the movement is limited to those with `alternative' tastes, but bands like Mando Diao sound destined for fame and fortune. Who knows, maybe this Swedish band with a Portuguese-sounding name might be the next in line to prove, once again, that rock and roll will never really die. A- Tom Ryan

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily one of the best of the retro-rock bands., March 15, 2005

By 

Matt (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hurricane Bar (Audio CD)

I loved their first LP and highly recommend it. That said, when I saw they had a new one coming out, I pre-ordered it and I was going to be happy if it was as good as the last. They've gotten better. This cd is fantastic. I have to admit I'm a fan of all these retro-rock bands recalling sounds of the 60s (The Strokes), 70s (White Stripes), and now 80s (The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, and the new Modest Mouse cd). Mando Diao would be somewhere in the 60s and 70s. But having lumped them with all those other bands and claiming their association with past decades, I still say they have a sound all their own and it rocks. I just can't believe we need a bunch of Swedes to show the US and the UK how it's done.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album changed my life, December 8, 2005

By 

Mathias Van Wie "Mathias" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hurricane Bar (Audio CD)

The Editorial Review (provided by Amazon above) is EXTREMELY misleading when it chides Mando Diao for lacking creativity. As a musician, a music enthusiast, and a music fan, I have to say this album (and it's predacessor) have convinced me that a few bands are still in the business of making beautiful music for fun. Perhaps the overdriven Gibson through an old vox amp reminds some people of other bands...but to assert that Mando Diao are copying the Kinks is a joke and shows an amateur bent for appreciating good music. The Kinks could learn quite a bit from Mando Diao. Words don't do this album justice. Have a listen!