On the back of last year's 4 track EP,
'Mission To Rock' Oz band
Hansel have now released their first full length studio album, titled
'Never Say Die', which suggests they've had cause to take a much more defensive position.
The EP's tight, hard edged, in-your-face glamrock was a great start for the band, getting them noticed, priming us for this release and potentially bracketing the band with new contenders, like The Last Vegas,
Babylon Bombs and Million Dollar Beggars.
Anton (Silverchair) Hagop is now executive producer with Daniel Leffler stepping into Hagop's vacated stackheel shoes at the studio mixing desk.
This new recording shows that they've cut loose the surplus glam & sleaze stylings and put on some heavy metal muscle, but that said, the music has a slicker, crisper, more streamlined profile.
All things are relative of course and I'm not suggesting that
Hansel are now
Metallica clones.
Poison would be nearer the mark.
In fact, in many ways, '
Never Say Die' reminds me of
Poison's
'Flesh & Blood' album. Not the one where they grew up and made adult rock, that was '
Native Tongue', but the earlier one where the glam, the sunset strip bravado and hooky, anthemic melodic rock coalesced into one, huge chartbound album at the late Bruce Fairbairn's Canadian studio.
I said 'reminds me'.
Hansel have still a way to go to reach those dizzy heights, but they're on the right track.
'Eruption' and
'Murder 101' (from '
Mission To Rock' EP)are industrial strength melodic pop metal songs, full of sharp chord changes, spare chunky beats and iced with sugary hooks.
'Rock City's aggro stomp borrows heavily from Led Zeppelin, while '
On The Run' and
'Rocketship Of Love' take on a distinctly
AOR mantle. Both are urgent, driving rock songs. The first has a couple of inspired time changes, creating room for a drawling, glamrock middle section and the second goes all the way back to Chuck Berry and The Beach Boys.
Talking of
Poison,
'Wild Tonight' takes us back to 'Talk Dirty To Me', and '
Between A Rock And A Hard Place' parodies that band's inflated, chart troubling ballads. Irritatingly cliched, but infuriatingly catchy (and very tongue in cheek).
Elsewhere, the tracks come over as enthusiastically accurate imitations, but imitation nevertheless. '
Vampire' and
'I-800-Pleasuretown' are all bluster and recycled gang vocals, lacking the hardhitting authenticity needed to make an indelible mark.
Not a perfect album, but then, few albums are.
Patchy though his one is, genuine talent and songwriting skill show through, and it'll gain them fans of the genre.
A wider audience awaits album number 2.
Written by
Brian Friday, February 5, 2010
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