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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly mellower, but still pure rock 'n' roll, July 5, 2005
This review is from: Rock & Roll Is Dead (Audio CD)
After nearly three years since their last studio album The Hellacopters are back and somewhat changed. The sound is still rock and roll, but in a more 'classic' sense than 'hard rock' sense. The dirty, distorted guitars of the past two albums have been cleaned up quite a bit, but this in no way detracts from the strong song writing. There is no doubt in my mind punk 'rawk' purists who were fans of 'Payin' the Dues' will probably feel betrayed by where The Hellacopters have gone, but that is always the price of artistic growth. There is no way a band can continue to satisfy all of its fans, as there will always be some people wishing the band would stay exactly the same. Despite the mellower direction there are still some great rock tunes on this album (Before the Fall, Nothing Terribly New, Everything's on TV, I'm in the Band, to name a few). Having said that Nick Andersen has clearly been influenced by his R&B stint with "The Solution" - just listen to 'Leave it Alone' for proof. However, the fact of the matter is the songwriting is incredibly strong regardless or R&B, punk or rock roots. So few bands these days have this many good songs on one disc. This is a damn good album that might not rock as hard as the preceding recordings, but still displays what The Hellacopters are so good at, and that's playing pure rock and roll.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WHAT AN APT ALBUM TITLE DESCRIBING AMERICAN MUSICAL TASTES, September 20, 2005
This review is from: Rock & Roll Is Dead (Audio CD)
In this day and age of availability of music, as well as exposure to different styles, America continues it's fascination with bland - boring pop. As the title of the new Hellacopters CD suggests, Rock and Roll in the eyes of the average, not informed, music fan really is dead. However, as fans we are privileged to see that it is not a dead art form but rather a style that suffers in popularity as opposed to formulaic rap, production - oriented heavy-metal rap, soulless diva R & B and retro - 80's new wave. I think what we are witnessing with this flawless release, the popularity of the Hives and the last TSOOL album Origin Vol. 1 is comparable to what the Brits did in the 50's with the american art form of Blues - Rock n Roll: reinvigorating a classic musical style then presenting it to a jaded, unsuspecting overseas crowd. However, much to the dislike of American Music Execs - beat writers this is not "garage rock" but rather classic, skilled songwriting - playing filled with energy that sticks in your head for days. Absolutely the best release of the year so far - buy it!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The purest rock and roll available for an otherwise un-rocking era, August 31, 2005
This review is from: Rock & Roll Is Dead (Audio CD)
It is an absolute travesty that the Hellacopters are not even a blip on the modern American rock and roll radar and is a testament to where rock in the states has completely ignored and traded its roots in blues and r&b for that "who can sound harder while rapping with drop-D tuning" boring bullcrap. Even Amazon doesn't have clips from this album for you to sample. Having that said, I think the album title says EVERYTHING, though its music completely contradicts it. Sorry to the early punk-style Hellacopters fans but this happens to be a SKILLED band that has grown up and ditched the adolescent 4-chord "stupid-fast-everyone-sounds-the-same shuffle". Get over it and mix in a smile here and there with the ink and piercings. If you are a true lover of pure rock and roll, it's impossible to not fall in love with the simple grace of this cd. It's full of great chord changes, melodies and, god-forbid, guitar solos. When was the last time you heard those three elements in a modern rock cd? Songs like "Monkeyboy", "No Angel to Lay Me Away" and "Time got No Time to Wait for Me" should be timeless classics. "Everything's on TV" and "I'm in the Band" are the cd's pop-foundation. "Before the Fall" sounds like a remastered B-side to an early Beach Boys fun song while "Bring it on Home" should satisfy those who simply must have an insanely fast-tempo tune to even consider buying it. Quite simply, the entire cd contains everything one would want in melody-driven rock and roll (melody...what's that?). The songs come in strong, make their point quickly and without the anger and politics, just leave you with a smile. Isn't that what rock was supposed to be in the first place?
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