Customer Reviews

Whatcha Want

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

 

 

The latest from Hanoi Boy Mike Monroe may be his finest solo effort to date.This cd will take the paint off your walls. Opening with an incendiary cover of Eddie & the Hot Rods classic "Do Anything You Wanna Do", Mike sets the tone for an album that never falters. This scorching declaration of independence fits right in with the Monroe Mythos.
Mike Monroe IS Rock'n'Roll, and this album is ample proof of his contribution to our music. His explosive rendering of Dead Boys standard "What Love Is" is worth the price of the cd on it's own. His plaintive vocal on final cut, "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye" is proof positive of the man's versatility.
This album is Punk Rock for here and now by one of the masters; it's an excellent companion piece to that great new one from Hanoi Rocks. Unreserved recommendation to those who like hard, passionate Rock'n'Roll.

This one I liked even better than "Life Gets You Dirty".
Some decent hard rock gems can be found here, my favs are "Germfree Adolescent", "Rumours Set the Woods Alight", "Jimmy Brown", and "Telephone Bill's All Mine". Very upbeat hard rock with hooks and catchy chorus'. Another good song on there is "I Won't Lay Down and Die".

He's still got alot of music and fight in him and now that Hanoi Rocks is consistantly putting out records again perhaps the majority of it goes to that band, but I would hope he puts out at least one more solo album. Ever since "Not Fakin' It" up till this one, he's had a pretty good solo career to go along with quite a few CD's with Hanoi Rocks, so you can't accuse him of being lazy that's for sure, and the music remains viable in todays market....even if no one really knows it's out there...it is and it's really good compared to most of the hard rock being put out on radio these days.

Michael's wild hair and glam style might cause some to write him off without giving his music a fair chance. But Michael is so much more than his looks. I've been a Hanoi Rocks fan since the mid-80s and have followed Michael's solo career since their breakup. Although I've never felt his solo work has quite lived up to Hanoi's unforgettable music, this newest effort is his best yet. Yes, a lot of songs on this CD are covers, but Michael does great service to all of them. I've never heard the original version of most of these covers anyway, so they're new to my ears. The entire CD rocks from beginning to end, with my personal favorites being "Rumour Sets the Woods Alight," "Germfree Adolescents," and "What Love Is." There's not a filler in sight here. Now that Michael's talents have joined with Andy McCoy's again, the future looks bright for rock fans everywhere.

More of the same with this effort. OK let's get the personal snide remarks out of the way first. Michael Monroe was formerly given the epithet 'impossibly beautiful'. Well it's a long way from the sunset strip back in 86 and no matter what special lighting effects they use, the dude looks seriously lived in. Yep, it reminds me of Keith Richards. And why not, he certainly swam closer to the stream than most others. So what do we get for our hard earned from this particular release?....

Well its fun again, Monroe giving us around an even split between his own tunes and covers. But had I not seen the names of the writers of these tunes I probably would of assumed they were all by him such is this guys ability to move tunes into his own domain. And picking tunes that suit him also helps. And any guitarist who goes by the moniker of Pink Gibson is probably game for anything you want to try and then some.

On the downside it's pretty lightweight stuff. Basically just fluff and fuzz and even when Monroe tries to say something the guy just has so little..... gravity. And as much as I like the idea of the dude his voice is starting to show it's age.

Still, if he played my hometown tomorrow I'd be there in a heartbeat tapping my toe to some fun tunes and a night out where you can leave your brain at home.