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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A GREAT Way to Discover a GREAT Band, December 4, 2005
This review is from: Lightning Bar Blues: The Albums 1981-1984 (Audio CD)
I bought this boxed set 6 months ago and have been very happy with it. It is a 6 disc set that comprises of the Hanoi Rocks first 5 albums (Bangkok Shocks, Oriental Beat, Self Destruction Blues, Back to Mystery City, and Two Steps from the Move) as well as their live release "All Those Wasted Years". The sound quality is excellent. If I had any complaints, I think they could have put some extra tracks on each of the albums, and maybe that the CDs come in flimsy cardboard cases instead of the conventional plastic ones. However, to be fair, the reason that this is a great purchase is that you can get the first six Hanoi Rocks releases for a little over $20! And their music is great fun 80's glam.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rock and Roll's great lost hope for the 1980s - from Finland, no less, August 24, 2007
This review is from: Lightning Bar Blues: The Albums 1981-1984 (Audio CD)
Of all the music I listened to growing up in the 1980s, hard rock, prog, blues, indie, metal, jazz, etc., I could never figure out how Hanoi Rocks remained such a footnote in rock history. Hailing from Finland may not have helped, but this band's move to London in the early 80s should have led to much greater acclaim, rather than simply being the band associated with "that Motley Crue incident."
With a mix of glam, hard rock, indie quirkiness and punk, the band had a ferocious energy and miles of melody to travel on. Their image was heavily cultivated, and did in fact add to their sound rather than detract. The band saw themselves as some sort of "globalized" rock contingent, with their lyrical characters enjoy the backstreets and sleaze of South East Asia, middle of nowhere London, or Downtown New York.
The musical evolution of the band has an early Clash vibe mixed with a bit of R&B, moving to a more polished hard rock sound towards the end of their career. Most interestingly in this box set is the leftovers and rarities collection, "Self Destruction Blues," which features a superb depth of songwriting and pristine production.
Andy McCoy's guitar was always melodic, soaked in tone and focused on the song rather than blind solos. Mike Monroe's vocals were always razor sharp and heartfelt. The rhythm section was well above par for a hard rock band, especially in their habit of often pushing the emphasis onto the fourth beat for added power.
As a box set collecting their primary catalog, I can't imagine this price and availability lastings too long. For such a short career, these discs are testament to great talent snuffed out too soon.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Long Last, February 5, 2010
This review is from: Lightning Bar Blues: The Albums 1981-1984 (Audio CD)
I was in high school from 1980 - 1984. The same period, coincidentally, that Hanoi Rocks was in the process of recording their Stooges-meets-Aerosmith legacy. During that period, and for years beyond, this was THE band that changed my perspective on what a rock band could sound like. Growing up with a strong input of arena rock and 60's invasion, I was taken by their melding of styles and visceral energy - a band that could swing from one extreme (punk) to another (ballad) within the span of three songs, all the while with musicianship and songwriting skills that must have made more than a few of their contemporaries take notice. At the time, they were unfortunately and wrongly lumped in with the power-pop, cheese-metal bands (Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot, I'm looking at you) of the day and never quite seemed to reach the audience they should have as a result. That's a shame not just for them, but for the millions of rock fans that never gave them a fair listen as a result.
Over the years, I never got over that impact and have listened to Hanoi Rocks ever since. The trouble was, those original vinyl discs were not the best quality to start with and have deteriorated over the years, and the band has never had a proper, full-catalog CD release - only fractured, imperfect and imprecise releases with no real cohesion. Now that problem has been resolved with the issue of all of the classic albums in one box.
I won't go step by step through each of the albums. As far as I can tell these have not been remastered, however the sound quality is just fine: essentially, they sound exactly as I remember, exactly as my now almost 30-year old vinyl did when new. What is special here is that they have packaged all of the albums in a single box together, reproducing each of the covers exactly (these are really much nicer than I expected, looking exactly like the originals in miniature). You get all of the original classic Hanoi Rocks albums together, with matching and equally well done packaging, housed in a simple but functional box. For a fan of the band, this is about as perfect as it can get.
Since tragedy struck Hanoi Rocks and sent them into disarray for years, this represents the canon of their classic output. Unfortunately, their later releases never quite recaptured the magic and were in reality little more than a McCoy/Monroe splinter project. This is the real deal, and my advice to the Hanoi Rocks fan is to get it while you can - like the band itself, good things rarely last forever.
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