Backyard Babies - Four By Four (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Punk

Label - Gain

Track listing:

01 - Th1rt3en Or Nothing
02 - I'm On My Way To Save Your Rock 'N' Roll
03 - White Light District
04 - Bloody Tears
05 - Piracy
06 - Never Finish Anything
07 - Mirrors (Shall Be Broken)
08 - Wasted Years
09 - Walls

Swedish rockers return with a brand new album, "Four By Four", their first new studio album in five long years. "Formed in 1989, and with half a dozen studio albums to their name, the line-up of the band has never changed, and neither has the collective desire to claim a key and colourful chapter in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll." which is a pretty impressive claim to be able to make in todays ever changing revolving door environment of rock 'n' roll. One thing that has changed is that the bands sound has slowly matured and evolved over the years, especially during their recent five year hiatus, that saw various band members involved with various other projects, especially guitarist Dregen with his excellent solo album! So the guys now come back together and put out a rather excellent record in the form of "Four By Four", which see the bands sound slightly more polished than on previous releases, and maybe a maturity within the song writing that can only come with age.
The album explodes into the ears with the recently-released single “Th1rt3en Or Nothing”, which has a funky start and then sort of slides into a slow and groovy wall of sleazy swagger. The vocals are sneering, the guitars are wailing and I love the drum sound. This track kind of brings to mind some of the recent Sixx:AM and possibly even Slash releases, yet maintains the Backyard Babies own identity. Second track “I’m On My Way To Save Your Rock & Roll” is an instant classic. Its dirty riff boils over with attitude, something only Scandinavian bands seem to understand these days, and its sing-along chorus just bounces along, simply brilliant. “White Light District” continues in the same vein, keeping up the energy and swaggering into a potential live classic in my honest opinion.
There’s a total change of pace for “Bloody Tears”, which starts slowly with acoustics then morphs into a massive power ballad. This is an absolutely cracking song. Get your lighters ready for this one.
The album returns to the classic Backyard Babies sound for “Piracy” which is fast and fun, featuring some excellent harmony vocals. “Never Finish Anything” is a potential single too, with a more modern sound with Nicke and Dregen throwing some two-way vocals at each other in the catchy chorus. “Mirrors (Shall be Broken)” is another nice ballad with a more bluesy groove. Final track “Walls” is another interesting cut, slow, but there’s no ballad here. Instead a strong and dominant jazzy bass line that gives it a feel all of its own, and it then becomes an instrumental ending that wouldn’t be out of place as the theme for a Hammer House Of Horror film. There’s creaking doors, doomy guitars and even an evil cackle or two.
It seems that those years doing their other projects have enabled the Backyard Babies to come back with a sound that is stronger than ever.  "Four By Four" is close enough in style to satisfy their die-hard long-term fans but there’s also some interesting new directions to attract a new audience.
A good strong album from some long time favourites, well worth checking out.

Highly Recommended

Rating - 9/10

Dregen - Dregen (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock
Label - Spinefarm Records

Track listings:

01 - Divisions Of Me
02 - Just Like That
03 - Flat Tyre On A Muddy Road
04 - Gig Pig
05 - Pink Hearse
06 - Bad Situation
07 - One Man Army
08 - 6:10 (Feat Danko Jones)
09 - Refuse
10 - Mojo's Gone

Finally the Backyard Babies, Helicopters main man Dregen (also Michael Monroe), gets around to putting out his debut solo album, and by God what an album it is.
This album pretty much covers the Rock N Roll spectrum, from the driven statement of intent that is Divisions Of Me, to the poppy Just Like That, to the quirky Flat Tyre On A Muddy Road (hands down my favourite track, although Pink Hearse comes close!).
10 perfectly crafted tracks, performed to perfection!. Hell Dregen has so much faith in this album, as he rightly should, that he has quit Michael Monroe's band so that he can tour it!
There just simply isn't a bad song on here, but my personal favourites have to be, Flat Tyre.... Pink Hearse, Bad Situation and 6:10.

A really great album that is really worth checking out!

Rating 10/10

MICHAEL MONROE - Horns And Halos [Limited Deluxe] (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock / Sleaze
Label -

Track listing:

01. TNT Diet
02. Ballad of the Lower East Side
03. Eighteen Angels
04. Saturday Night Special
05. Stained Glass Heart
06. Horns And Halos
07. Child of the Revolution
08. Soul Surrender
09. Half the Way
10. Ritual
11. Hands Are Tied
12. Happy Neverafter (bonus track)
13. Don't Block the Sun (bonus track)

Michael Monroe returns with Horns And Halos, the follow up to 2011's  (Ginger Wildheart penned) album of the year, Sensory Overdrive, this time without the mighty Ginger at the song writing helm. Can it love up to its predecessor? Oh Hell Yes it can!!

this album is pure Michael Monroe, combining elements from Hanoi Rocks, Demolition 23 and his previous solo material, mixing them up and adding a good dose of here and now! The result, one hell of an album.

I may not have written the following review but I couldn't agree with what it says any more. (All credit to the original reviewer!)

"Founding member of Hanoi Rocks - the band that essentially started the Hollywood glam rock scene and inspired bands like Guns 'N Roses, Poison and Motley Crue - since many years ago MICHAEL MONROE embarked on an solid solo career, frequently guesting on now-classic albums and performing with many other legends in rock music.

"Horns And Halos" is Michael Monroe's band new release which takes life truly by the horns and delivers a piece of glammy hard rock music that is full on with intensity, charisma and drive.

"TNT Diet" is the first track from 'Horns And Halos', a fast-paced rockin' energetic tune, complete with signature horn honkin' fills and plenty of attitude. It's a good, solid start, showing a more polished approach in sound than on the previous album which I like a lot.

"Ballad Of The East Side" is another triumphant blast of glamorous rock and roll, and the undisputed kings of glunk are at their best singing about something they know first-hand and this happens to be about all things after midnight in the Big Apple as it was and not as it is now. 

"Eighteen Angels" has sleaze written all over it: it's got groove, hard funk and sharp guitars, a lethal combination, followed by "Saturday Night Special", a more up-tempo rocker with a great breakdown beat towards the rip snorting guitar solo. A track wonderfully reminiscent of earlier Monroe works.

Next up we have the hard rocking title track "Horns And Halos" that's brooding on a jagged riff before breaking out with a huge chorus that jabs the listener in the throat and demands you to sing-along. This rough yet polished hard rock cut is one of my favorites.

"Child Of The Revolution" is pure rock 'n roll from the subtle hand claps to the big gang vocal chorus and the wicked melody, to my ears recalling some Hanoi Rocks, Clash and even Blondie.

For album number two this band has only gone and gotten better, trading off one and other more freely as a unit it would seem.

So with eleven songs on offer (or thirteen on this deluxe version) by the time you get to "Soul Surrender" you’re taken on another twist and turn as the band go from all out punk hard rock to a poppy groove driven by a fat bass and a catchy chorus.

"Half The Way" once again reinforces the fact that Monroe & the band have really put the hours in on the writing front by mixing up the instruments with the harmonica and guitars trading well on around, it’s a really strong melody complemented by some superb backing vocals that elevate this tune as it gets stuck in your head.

Easing things back a little, next up is "Ritual" with Michael using his lower range for the verses but the temperature soon rises for the guitar solo and a haunting guitar line cuts through the song as it comes to the boil nicely.

Something else about this line up of the Michael Monroe band is that on ‘Horns And Halos’ there’s no track like the previous track, illustrating there are many strings to their collective bow. And to close the album off we return for some low down and dirty rock in "Hands Are Tied" as the boys get their groove on and take this baby home in triumphant style. 

The bonus tracks really worth this Limited Deluxe edition, as the traditional '80s L.A. hardrocker "Happy Neverafter" is one of the best cuts of the entire disc, and the melodic "Don't Block The Sun" also recalls the Sunset Strip days with its swagger and fun rhythm.

Michael Monroe's "Horns And Halos" is not just the product of a life that has been lived or the fevered imagination of someone with great lyrical writing skills, it is has the hallmarks of a place, the one special location in which as rock music lovers we all dwell and take refuge in, be it a city or a venue. The album draws on that and gives Michael Monroe’s fans a pretty rocking sanctuary in which to share his music again. 

To my ears this CD is truly far superior than the already really good previous effort, and sits among Monroe's best.

"Horns And Halos" possesses a swagger and an air of confidence that's missing from many of today's releases and is the perfect soundtrack to a scorching hot summer's day. So when you get this album make sure you crank the volume up for maximum effect and let the songs flow over you.

Very Recommended."

Very Highly Recommended

Rating - 10/10