In the 80's Scandinavian Hard Rock was rising high. Characteristic for the Scandinavian bands was the polished keyboard sound. A pioneer band like
Europe achieved huge success with other Swedish acts like
Treat and
Alien to follow.
These bands overshadowed the Glam and Sleaze acts from Sweden, but in the later years the Swedish Glam and Sleaze scene has grown huge and stronger than ever.
Hardcore Superstar, CrashDïet and
Zan Clan all delivered 3 of the best records of 2005.
The Swedish scene is definitely a smorgasbord with several cool acts from upcoming bands like
Mama Kin and
CrashDïet to more established acts like
Hardcore Superstar ¨and
Zan Clan .
Read review of the aforementioned by clicking on the link.
Babylon Bombs
Babylon Bombs has two album under their belt with the latest "Doin' you Nasty" released in 2006.
The album offers 12 great songs wrapped up in a great full production. The first single "Louder" has an up-tempo punk beat to it. Overall the songs are very catchy with "Hometown Hero" sounding like a potential hit.
Personal favorites are "Crack of Dawn", which has a cool bouncy vibe to it and "Slippin' Away" with its Cinderella alike vibe. The album highlight "Proud" is definitely among the best song of the year and Babylon Bombs is a very exciting band to watch in this genre.
"Doin' You Nasty" album review
Vains of Jenna
Originally from Falkenberg, Sweden Vains of Jenna is a young band with members in their early 20's who just relocated to Los Angles to "make it". I have followed the band for around a year and they are just about to release their debut album on Filthy Note Records, which might be the most anticipated release of the year. First pressing of the album "Lit Up/Let Down" was released on RLS Records,
read review.
Gemini Five
Gemini Five was among the first bands to start the new Swedish invasion of Glam /Sleaze with their amazing debut album "Babylon Rockets", which ranks among the best modern sleaze records of all time. Unfortunately Gemini Five didn't manage to release a proper follow up to the fabulous debut album and their second album
"Black Anthem" was a major disappointment. The band is still going strong and hopefully they will release a new kick ass album soon.
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is Rod Stewart goes Hard Rock. The sound of the band is not unlike The Quireboys. In 2001 I saw the band support Enuff Z'Nuff in London and their straight-ahead Rock N' Roll won over lots of people. I later bought their mini album "Among the Non Believers".
Read review of that album.
Diamond Dogs has a new album out called "Up the Rock". Smilodon Records provided RevelationZ Magazine with the first single "Generation Upstart", which sees the band practicing traditional Rock N' Roll to perfection once again.
"Up the Rock" is out now. So check out Diamond Dogs at their
MySpace site.
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols was probably the band that sounded most like the sunset strip bands. This summer the band reunited at Sweden Rock festival and delivered a great show.
Read concert review of that show.
Prior to the Sweden rock festival gig Swedmetal Records released a Nasty Idols compilation, which got rave reviews. The label also re-issued 3 albums from Nasty Idols, so the band definitely made a buzz with their return to the scene. Nasty Idols has just played a handful of shows in Sweden and will most likely record a new album.
The band's last record was "Heroes for Sale" released in 1995. The album was a bumpy noisy ride, which reflected a disillusioned band, but yet they managed to shine on the fantastic Shelia and the title track.
The new Nasty Idols album should be a return classic Nasty Idols sound, which their second album "Cruel Intention" exemplifies best. Without doubt "Cruel Intention" is the best album Nasty Idols released so far.
In my book songs like "Cool Way of Living" "Alive n´ Kickin´", "House of Rock´n´Roll", "Can't Get yer Off my Mind" and the timeless "The Way Ya Walk" all are classic songs.
The songs above are all included on "Swedish Sleaze Collection", which was a best of compilation released in 2006. Still "American Nights" and "Don't Tear It Down" are two album highlights that weren't found worthy to be on a collection representing Nasty Idols´ best material and it just proves how strong this album is. Andy Pierce's voice and Pete Espinoza's great playing is the icing on the cake. The production of the album is excellent, which underlines that this album is just as current today as in 1991 when it was originally released
Nasty Idols reviews:
Since Sleaze rock has had a tremendous comeback in Sweden a couple of bands have reunited.
Treat has reunited and released a Greatest Hits album with 2 new tracks.
Read review.
Sleaze Rockers
Glorious Bankrobbers has singed a deal with Swedmetal for a brand new album. Glorious Bankrobbers made one album in 1990 called "Dynamite Sex Dose", but are back to spread their Sleazy Hard Rock
In general the Swedish scene is sparkling and a smorgasbord. If you look in the direction of more traditional Hard Rock then check out great Swedish bands like
Dogpound,
Freak Kitchen and
Talisman.
