Customer Reviews

Rock & Roll Is Dead

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
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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.

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!!!

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?

Sweeden's Hellacopters are nothing new. They've been on the scene now for 10+ years. This release is only a continuation of their long tapestry of slash-and-burn rock albums that prooves once again that this un-American group knows more about American R & R history than most American R & R bands.

If you're not hip, here's a walking stick: The Hellacopters get a lot of comparrisons to The Black Crowes. While this is a half-truth, think of The Hellacopters as The Black Crowes with more MC5 than Faces. Their newest release shows these four Sweeds (plus an additional keyboardist who doesn't get in the way) getting into more blues-based ideas rather than their early recordings that are comprised of straight-up aggressive rock songs. Hell, maybe rock and roll is dead for The Hellacopters. Oh wait - the album title now makes sense.

This is a good rock n roll album. I repeat, THIS IS A GOOD ROCK N ROLL ALBUM The 'Copters have abondoned their mentor's approach of turning up "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" which breaks this alcoholic rock n roll fan's heart. The songs are great, though, Nicke and the boys finally nailed the focus that their newer, exposed sound has needed. It is noticeably southern at times, and it channels the Stones more than the Hellacopters have ever managed to do.
Unfortunately, it will offend no one sonically (Something I crave from my rock). It is very commercial. The guitar tone is wimpy. The vocals are tender. The drums are subdued. It is less utilitiarian for rocking than their earliest projects, less to get drunk to, but, hey, they can actually write and record 'decent' tunes! The girls will love this album! "No Angel to Lay me Away" grooves like hell. "Time Got no TIme to Wait for Me" sure is catchy, folks. "Put Out the Fire" grooves too. "Everything is on TV" undeniably rules, and despite my confusion w/ the need to mention monkeys in songs, track 3 has made a believer of me.
You won't get hit by a train by listening to this album, which might upset meat-heads like me. . . . .but pop it in. Its cool.

If you like melodic rock with a solid groove and giant hooks (and hey, who doesn't?!) then you will most likely love this album. With elements of the Stones, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, Foghat, etc. these guys manage to mix in a lot of great influences and still keep it sounding fresh and not too dated.

It's rare these days to find an album that you can listen to all the way through without having to skip songs and without the music getting stale after a few listens. This album is accessible right from the first listen and stands up after many, many plays.

It really hurts me to have to give this album an unfavorable review. For several years I have been one of the Hellacopters' few faithful American fans, and I've met them in person when they traveled with great hardship to the States and played in scuzzy clubs to sparse audiences. The Hellacopters are still outstanding players and their sound retains its crunch, but Nicke Andersson's songwriting seems to have gotten stuck in a rut from which he can't escape. The band started out as energetic punk rockers with a great respect for roots rock and American classic rock, which was amazing for a bunch of guys from Sweden. I'm not the type of selfish fan who demands that bands keep sounding like they did on old albums, and I encourage my favorite musicians to develop over time (for example, I'm an old school Metallica fan who still likes them, for crying out loud). However, the rootsy side of the Hellacopters has shoved aside all other aspects of their sound, to the point where they're now a retro band cranking out assembly-line tunes that offer little more than competent professionalism, and little real excitement or variety.

The presence of a song called "Nothing Terribly New" on this album seems like a bad joke. With zero (and I really mean zero) exceptions, the music on this album is professional 70s classic rock that you could hear much more directly from any prime-period southern rock album by Lynyrd Skynyrd or Marshall Tucker Band. Meanwhile, other than a few surprises like "Murder on My Mind" or "No Angel to Lay Me Away," the lyrics have declined to completely typical anthems about overcoming minor struggles and good rockin' times on the road - topics that became passé in American rock three decades ago. In this regard, the Hellacopters have hit an all-time lyrical low on the maddeningly inane "I'm In the Band." I'm heartbroken, to see a band with so much potential for excitement, wasting their formidable skills and ambition on such lifeless material. [~doomsdayer520~]

Another great album from the 'Copters. This album has less of an edge compared to their previous stuff, but the songs are great. The Hellacopters change their sound on each record, and this one is no exception. R&R is Dead is more bluesy, and slower with a classic rock feel than we are used to. The Hellacopters started off in the mid 90's as a hardcore punk band that would fit right in the Detroit 70's bands. They have toned down the distortion on each album since, and added more melody and keyboards to their music. If you like your classic rock hard and fast then you will like this album. Highlights include...
1. Before the Fall: a Chuck Berry like guitar sound here thats very catchy and starts the record off with a bang.
2. No Angel to Lay me Down: My favorite song on the album! it is a mid-paced modern rock song with a dynamic structure and great riffs. The song changes speeds, and has a great intro and great guitar work throughout. Great song!
3. Bring It On Home: A fast paced punk(ish) song that will remind you that this is still the Hellacopters.
4. Leave It Alone: The slowest song, but has a great melody. Almost sounds like Lynryd Skynrd.
5. I'm In The Band: Another fast-paced rocker with great lyrics. Not their best song ever, but its a good, fun kick in the pants.
The rest of the album is decent, but these 5 are my favs. Overall I would rank this album just a notch below their last 2 (By the Grace of God, High Visibility) but thats probably because I prefer more metal and less blues.

Rock & Roll Is Dead~ The Hellacopters is a straight forward rock album that could have been seen as boring and uinspired, but it is not. It is quite refreshing to hear just plain rock music without pretentious lyrics or the band trying to make a social or political statement like U2 and REM. The cover is also a standard rock cover. The book-let is a bit sparse with no lyrics which is a downer. But the photos are great and looks allot like old book-lets from the 1970's. This is an album that I highly reccomend. Not to be missed by classic rock enthusiasts or fans of gerat music for that matter.

If you love classic rock and believe that todays music is going down the drain please by this album. They rock like hell. Listen to the Chuck Berry influenced "Before the Fall" and the Stonesy "Leave it Alone" Also I (as a classic rock lover) love the line in "I'm With the Band" that references The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, and Jimi Hendrix in one line. If Rock & Roll is dead than I believe these guys no CPR.