Released by: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Sleaze Hard Rock
Links: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialHardcoreSuperstar
Line Up:
Jocke Berg – vocals
Vic Zino – guitar
Martin Sandvik – bass
Magnus “ADDE” Andreasson – drums
Tracklist:
01. Cutting The Slack
02. C’mon Take On Me
03. One More Minute
04. Above The Law
05. Are You Gonna Cry Now
06. Stranger Of Mine
07. Won’t Take The Blame Pt. 1
08. Won’t Take The Blame Pt. 2 (Sect Meeting)
09. Dead Man’s Shoes
10. Because Of You
11. Too Much Business
12. Long Time No See
After a disappointing album by Crasdhiet, the Sleaze veterans of Hardcore Superstar try to kick some ass with their 9th studio record named, “C’mon Take On Me”. Can they restore the greatness of Swedish Sleaze Metal (or how they call it: Street Metal)?
With their current output, Crashdiet have done a disservice on themselves. It seems like there’s not much left of the trademarks, which made this band so big. I can assure you however: Hardcore Superstar don’t make the same mistakes twice. Over the years they created their own rough sound and this record is no exception. You could say that “C’mon Take On Me” is a logical progression of their previous album “Split Your Lip”. I liked this one very much. Hardcore Superstar raised high expectations with their two first single-outputs of this new album: “One More Minute” is a catchy sing-along-track with an amazing chorus, you won’t forget.”Above The Law” is also an amazing party-hymn, which finds it’s climax in a terrific chorus. The opener and title track “C’mon Take On Me” (“Cutting The Slack” is just an intro) leaves you begging for more. Great rhythm, dirty sound … and again a big refrain.
These three songs set the bar very high and will work on stage pretty good. Here you can see, how Sleaze Metal should sound in 2013 … sadly these three songs are the best on the whole album. The rest remains below expectations. It’s not such a disaster as a certain other band, but after listening to three such gems my ears are so spoiled that I’m just a bit disappointed as to what follows.
“Won’t Take The Blame Pt. 1” stands out a bit, because this one sticks in your ear for a long time. It’s also one of those cool party rockers. Although this is a very good song, who needs a second part of it? Especially if this second part doesn’t bring anything new with it. It seems like you are listening to the same song again – just in a shorter version. Not necessary. The only ballad on this record is “Stranger Of Mine” … and this one is such a boring tune. Hardcore Superstar fail to generate some tension or arouse emotions here. This song just passed me by. It’s the same with “Because Of You”.
The other songs aren’t bad, but compared to the really strong song material in the beginning of “C’mon Take On Me” they just seem to be Sleaze-stuff off the shelf. The monotony of Jockes voice also contributes it’s part to it. He is a good shouter with an unique voice, but he sings every song in the same way without any variation in his voice. Sure, this is enough for a party record (and it’s all about having a Rock’n’Roll party here) but I was hoping for a little bit more.
I like to point out the production – it all sounds really rough and dirty and this is exactly what you expect from a Hardcore Superstar album. About the musicians themselves, there is also nothing to complain about. Very solid as usual. Hardcore Superstar don’t experiment on their new album. If you know this band already you know exactly what you can expect … in the beginning of “C’mon Take On Me” the band indicates even something more than this, but they can’t keep up this high level with the following stuff. From time to time you feel like you’ve heard this all before, but better. Hardcore Superstar can’t beat their previous record “Split Your Lip”, which was a little highlight for me. Nevertheless I can recommend this album to you if you are a fan of this band or music style. It’s solid fare – no more, no less.
Written by Thomas
Ratings Thomas 7/10
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