Michael Monroe is back with a new fantastic album to complement his legendary back catalogue with Hanoi Rocks. "Whatcha Want" contains 9 cover versions and 4 originals. However,
Michael Monroe has succeeded in making a very consistent album, because his self-penned songs fit the record perfectly.
The cover versions on this record are unknown to me. The musical style of the covers are following the tradition of Guns N' Roses' "Spaghetti Incident", where Michael sang duet with Axl on the Dead Boys cover
Ain't it Fun. Dead Boys is also another connection between the 2 albums, because "Whatcha Want" is also featuring a song written by Dead Boys.
You sense
Michael Monroe's attitude from the very start of this amazing album. The first song is a working man's song about saying, "fuck you" and
Do Anything You Wanna Do. Pure Rock 'n' Roll oozing cigarettes, booze and low hanging guitars.
Most of the cover songs are from the 70' s punk era. For example
I Won't Lie Down And Die, which was
originally
written by UK Subs. This power chords are being ripped fast and sweet during the song's playing time of 2.20 minutes. Same formula is used on the Dead Boys cover
What Love is. This is dirty punk rock with punky lyrics too. A great solo fulfills this track into a great powerful song.
The 2 previous mentioned songs are the most outstanding cover versions along with
Rumour Sets the Woods Alight. On this song you can hear the rasp in Monroe's voice and he is sounding better than ever. A
great muted riff and some great drums are forceful in this song.
Jimmy Brown is another great song with some lyrics we all can relate to.
The icing on the cake is Monroe's self penned songs.
Michael Monroe is a multi instrumentalist. On
Right Here, Right Now we get a sample of his abilities on harmonica.
Stranded is a fantastic moody rocker with loads of atmosphere and the song is introducing
Michael Monroe, the saxophonist.
Michael Monroe is sounding like a million dollars on this song. Definitely among album highlights.
The intro to
Shattered Smile has a great piano bringing associations to Iggy Pop and Stooges. The guitars sound absolutely amazing. Michael is singing very varied on this track. The song is co-written by his partner on this album Pink Gibson.
The diversified singing style is continued on the album closures.
Identity has some strong vocals and
Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye has a raspy Monroe interpret a Leonard Cohen song only accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
This album is packed with full-blown Rock 'n' Roll in the words true meaning.
Michael Monroe has never sounded better. His vocal performance on "Whatcha Want" is a true masterpiece. I have never heard him sing so varied and so powerful. His voice has only gotten better after more than 20 years in the music business.
The production is amazing. The sound is clear with Monroe's voice as the center of the production. The guitars are sounding very powerful along with a solid drum sound. The tight production suits this album perfect. The running order is also excellent changing between the diverse styles covered on the album.
I have the deepest respect for
Michael Monroe. He has never sold out and always stuck to his roots. Just check out the cover displaying the image and what
Michael Monroe has always been about.
It has taken me quite some time to write this review. Every time I sat down and started to write this review I had the album blasting also. It was like sitting on coals, because "Whatcha Want" always got me jumping and playing air guitar along this fine collection of tunes. "Whatcha Want" is a party album - Highly recommendable, so CRANK IT UP.
Written by
Michael Monday, January 27, 2003
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