Guano Apes
Proud Like A God

THE REVIEW

First attempt by the German group Guano Apes… The first thing that strikes when listening to this album is the grit the combo manages to convey; direct and gritty rock, with a nod to crossover.

The album opens with “Open Your Eyes”, the band's most successful single and the best track of their career; Sandra Nasic's voice expresses all its power, combining grit and melody. The group's first effort, however, also gifts us with other noteworthy tracks, certainly not on the level of the aforementioned single: “Rain”, demonstrating that Sandra can also sing sweet ballads without losing face, “Lord Of The Boards”, the second single released, “We Use The Pain”, with a nursery rhyme-like progression, “Waash It Down” which combines rock and funk, “Get Busy”, another ballad with hip hop influences.

However, the rock of the Guano Apes tends to become a bit self-serving in the long run, mainly due to lyrics that are not very original; as for the musical part, there are some interesting ideas, although the group's strength remains the voice of Sandra Nasic, incisive, angry but never overdoing it.
Another quality of Guano Apes is their ability to reproduce in their music the typical Central-European atmosphere. This “Proud Like A God” is probably the band's best work because it is not yet framed in a market logic and even if still a bit naive, it can be appreciated for its genuineness…

This will be followed by two more studio albums, a live and a best of that will mark the group's dissolution, whose members are currently engaged in solo projects.