Adam Bomb
Grave New World

The Authorial and Authoritative Side of Glam. This is a re-emergence. Logically, it depends on personal knowledge and the age of a genre. I can’t help but smile when I read “nice re-emergence” about Tesla, for instance.

Adam Brenner’s curriculum vitae, born in 1965, known in the glam scene as Adam Bomb, speaks of an artistic life filled with appointments with an interesting destiny. Geoff Tate, Eddie Van Halen, Kiss, Steeler, Michael Schenker, Michael Monroe, and collaborations with many other high-profile names.

Adam Bomb has been a gypsy of rock, someone who gave his all, also because his overall vision was quite all-encompassing, allowing him to face each new adventure with inexhaustible enthusiasm and practically unlimited ideas. What continues even today is a career where you can always sense Adam Bomb being Adam Bomb, even when he works with other bands. Because his sensitivity as a professional musician coexists with a poetic depth, if placed in the 80s/90s glam rock context. Adam Bomb rationalized the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll paradigm by explaining the why and providing new and decadent perspectives. Thus, not just proclamations of self-destruction. Perhaps because Adam knew well the glam rock of the two previous decades before the rebellious wave that shattered the world. Guitar glam rock heavy metal hero is stated on the header of his website. I would also add excellent songwriter for his solo albums.

With "Grave New World," we're already in 1993, on his third solo work. Probably the best and closest one to my tastes. Alongside him, singing, playing guitar and keyboards, are Steve James from the Dogs D’Amour on bass, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals, and Danny Stainer on drums. Adam courageously presents himself in a world that has changed music with 14 tracks, some commendable, others feeling a bit tight. 14 tracks for this genre are a lot. If they’re not masterpieces, the rating inevitably drops. Unfortunately, here fillers are not lacking but are not enough to drag this highly valid production down to average levels. It's still Adam Bomb, someone who knew the past, someone who knew David Bowie, for instance.

The genre. The flag of British glam rock flies high and prominently in this production, which also gathers the quiet power of L.A. sleaze rock and some punches in the face from grunge. Following this trail, the wonderful Lee Aaron would release a hard rock album, tainted by the Seattle onslaught, the following year. But we’re already further ahead. If you want to imagine without listening, Grave New World is a polite and refined softening of tones compared to the very first Pretty Boy Floyd. The voices of Adam and Steve Summers at times resemble each other a lot. It’s the Cinderella that’s darker and more reflective, who have studied and become cultured.

The tracks. As mentioned, some are truly remarkable. Johnny In The Sky, a swaggering opener dedicated to New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders, carries with it a sound that’s immediately new, perfectly balanced between acoustic and electric. The scene painted is one of a gloomy glam, almost apathetic, melancholic, and resigned. It seems like a piece from the master Bowie right after doing heroin. Rock Sex City is a metropolitan and expansive glam attack. There are punk influences, sleaze from the 80s, and maybe a few too many trips. Doin’ The Business is desert rock doomed from the start, an alienated and dehydrated country, but it has a toxic and cursed 60s refrain. Hug Me ‘Till You Drug Me has a more sustained and pop rhythm. Here, an example of a filler that slightly misses the mark is a vision already had. Sister Enemy is one of the gems of this production, a nocturne, a page of a missed literature. Omissis in rock history. Cinderella must have missed it on their journey. Grey is the ballad that adds nothing. Cute, but that’s it. Too good to be an Adam piece. Hang It Up is a sleaze club that fits without adding any particular excitement. The best expression of Adam in the 90s is Magenta Sky, a pure dose of effeminate depression and anger in a ballad that lives in the shadow and seeks the light. Airport Called Love are the acoustic Poison or Pretty Boy Floyd. It’s okay but doesn’t melt hearts. Down The Hole makes me cite Cinderella again, the one they should have been in the 90s but unfortunately were not. A cowboy song of good craftsmanship. Can You Hear Me is a shock rock that scratches sleaze as it should and demonstrates Adam’s excellent skills as a guitarist, always a protagonist of excellent solos. The compositional level, when it becomes original, is truly noteworthy. In general, it’s always perfectly in line with the fixed points of those who tease. Don’t Look At My Eyes instead reminds me of early Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns. No novelty, but a good impact. A Pretty Price sounds good for the radio, fm rock that purses the lips and eyes of the general public. It closes with a generally polished Killer Machine with a Hanoi Rocks orientation. An excellent piece to close with.

The varied complexity of references stands thanks to Adam’s performance skills suited for studio work, and his session men wisely chosen. The universal interpretation of the genre, with tracks having long roots in the 60s/70s and others with shorter ones in the 80s/90s, is truly masterful. Without some tracks, I would be here presenting you a masterpiece. The first part of the album stirs much curiosity because it looks further back. The latter is slightly more predictable but rarely banal. The whole album is bathed in an acidic sap that could rightly be called post glam. If you don’t know Adam Bomb, I politely tell you that you cannot continue to ignore him.