Tuesday, April 10, 2012

CRAZY LIXX: "Riot Avenue"


Rating: 7/10

Label: Frontiers 2012

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

The first impression of this album was a bitter disappointment. It sounded like the band had morphed into a Hardcore Superstar wanna-be, and as if the melodies of their previous material had been thrown out of the window. Now, having played the album a few times, it has started to show its' true colours and what do you know, everything's not lost after all.

While it's true that the band has added a big dose of sleaze into their sound, there are still quite a few melodic gems among the less appealing "street rock" material. The opener "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" combines the best of both worlds, as does the anthemic and melodic title track. "Fire It Up" reminds me a bit of Cinderella's "Shake Me" and that's not a bad thing at all, while "Downtown" is totally 80'ies Kiss. "Heatseeker" has a strong chorus, but I'm not that fond of the plodding tempo of the verses. The ballad "Only The Dead Know" has to be mentioned too, it sounds like the more morbid cousin of Great White's "Save Your Love" and Kix' "Don't Close Your Eyes".

If the band were after a very authentic late eighties/early nineties sound, I must say that they succeeded in it perfectly. If this album had been presented to me as an undiscovered band from 1991, I might have been fooled... and had this album been actually released back then, it would nowadays be a cult favourite alongside the likes of Outlaw Blood, XYZ and Roxy Blue... not necessarily one of the million sellers.


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