A 2 CD retrospective from the criminally underrated - and often overlooked -
Hanoi Rocks, one of the very best rock bands to come out of Europe, and a major influence on the emergent LA Rock scene of the early eighties.
In vocalist,
Michael Monroe and guitarist, Andy McCoy,
Hanoi Rocks had one of those rare pairings where the whole is infinitely greater than the sum of the parts.
Both are accomplished musicians - something they get little credit for - and singularly and collectively they wrote dozens of strutting street symphonies, which adorn this 2 CD set like so many splashes of colour in a monochrome world.
In "Our Career, Part One" (sic), the band released five outstanding albums.
The first two, the fabulously titled
'Bangkok Shocks Saigon Shakes Hanoi Rocks' (1981) and
'Oriental Beat' (1982) were informed by an edgy, high energy punk vibe and by the original glam pop/rock of the seventies. Clearly influenced by seminal bands like The Clash, The New York Dolls, the Velvet Underground and Bowie among others, the band's derivative yet refreshingly contemporary sound made people sit up and take notice. Having grabbed their attention, the band's high calibre songs and performances made sure those same people stayed glued to their seats for the duration.
There are 3 tracks each from those first two albums, including, inevitably, the understated cool of
'Tragedy' and the explosive, poignant '
11th Street Kids'.
If the quality of the band's songwriting ever went on trial then the 3
rd album
'Self Destruction Blues' would be the case for the defence, with '
Love's An Injection' and
'Café Avenue' exhibits A & B.
Why? Simply because this album was a collection of B Sides and outtakes from previous recording sessions. Unless you already knew, you could never tell. Such was the strength of the band's songs.
Those 2 tracks, despite the fact they are so derivative, would have been fit to grace any rock album, anywhere, anytime.
The patchy
'Back To Mystery City' and their first on a major,
'Two Steps From The Move' followed in 1983 and 1984. The band's career was in the ascendant and a songwriting purple patch resulted in a liberal sprinkling of shit hot rock songs across these two recordings. The rollercoaster, dayglo
'Malibu Beach Nightmare' and the compact pop of
'Until I Get You' from the former. And
'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', a bittersweet symphony for the eighties, plus the chilled out '
Underwater World' on the latter are all ragged cut slices of the band's exotic mixture of pop, glam and rock, cooked up in a drug addled, dazed and confused world.
In a well documented career littered with soaring highs and subterranean lows, the all too familiar "and then they pressed the self destruct button" scenario rose its ugly, unwelcome head later in 1984 on the band's first US tour. Drummer Razzle died in a headline grabbing road traffic accident. The car was driven by an inebriated Vince (Motley Crue) Neil.
It was the beginning of the end and
Hanoi Rocks disbanded in 1984.
Fast forward to 2002 and in a Friends Reunited scenario, McCoy and Monroe revive the band, releasing a trio of beautifully crafted, hard rocking and well received albums through the ensuing five years.
They are well represented on this compilation, but best reading the full reviews of these albums in Revelationz.net's archives:-
'12 Shots On The Rocks' (2002), Brian.
'Another Hostile Takeover' (2005) and
'Street Poetry' (2007), both by Michael.
For completists, Disc 2 ends with 2 cracking, previously unreleased tracks .
'Worldshaker' and
'Grin And Bear It'. The second is nothing marvellous, but the first is immense, sounding like
The Cult coming face to face with Mott The Hoople in the confessional booth.
This is a marvellous selection of album tracks with only the truly excellent 'Kill City' from 'Self
Destruction Blues' missing. But that's a minor gripe. If you haven't yet dug under the surface of the
Hanoi Rocks then this will be like finding buried treasure.
Written by
Brian Sunday, March 8, 2009
Show all reviews by BrianRatingsBrian: 8/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
This article has been shown 1938 times. Go to the
complete list.
