•
Rating: Hanoi Rocks
Street Poetry
I do stretching before the start of the match with my teammates, like every Saturday from October to May. I turn around and on the other side of the net, there are kids who must be at least 10 years younger than me; cocky and pumped up but that's normal at that age, I tell myself. What catches my eye isn't even their identical uniforms: damn, they look like they were made with a cookie cutter even as they warm up for the match synchronized under the stern gaze of the coach. A poor imitation of the fat guy with a cane from 80s Japanese cartoons. But even this doesn’t interest me particularly, to use a mild euphemism. When we start spiking to stretch our bones and ligaments, the kids cautiously spike iron posts into the three-meter line, but even this doesn’t interest or worry me; I'm aware they lack experience and in fact, it ended 3 to 1 for us.
What really surprised me was seeing all these kids put together with spit and band-aids. One had two ankle braces, knee pads for a wobbly kneecap, and was only 17 years old!! I've always said that if you lift weights too early when your body isn't fully developed, you risk destroying yourself. Better to hold back and not overdo it...
The same goes for rock bands. Many break up and achieve success too soon, getting lost along the way in a flash, making giant steps towards rapid decline. Hanoi Rocks definitely do not fall into this category. They are the first Scandinavian band that managed to break through, even ahead of the far more famous Europe, thanks to their first work in 1981 titled "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes". They disappeared in 1985, still very young, when a car accident killed the drummer of Hanoi Rocks (the car was driven by the singer, drunk, from Motley Crue) and sapped their desire to continue. They resumed recording only in 2002. "Street Poetry" is their latest chapter. As the title suggests, they are a band devoted to streetwise, rough, and simple hard rock; it's surprising to hear this energy from leader Michael Monroe, who is now closer to 50 than to 40. An easily digestible CD that offers an hour of energetic, melodic, rough, and sufficiently varied rock with more mellow chapters like the very flashy "This One Is For Rock 'n Roll" or "Teenager Revolution", alternating with powerful tracks like the opener "Hypermobile" and "Highwired". But it's the eccentricity of pieces like "Worth Your Weight in Love" where the guitar stays in a corner in favor of a hypnotic choir with strong and successful sax inserts that make me write these enthusiastic lines. Blues tints with the seductive guitar riffs in the title track and harmonica and infectiously happy energy of the best and earliest Aerosmith (Powertrip).
Instead of waiting for democracy to arrive in China, trust my advice and refresh your ears with Hanoi Rocks, who from the 2002 reunion deliver their best product with 13 tracks to listen to at full volume. Nothing astonishing, let's be clear, but "Street Poetry" is a very well-made CD deserving three to four stars. Terrible old guys like McCoy and Monroe deserve the support of those who love this music.
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 Fashion (03:16)
When fashion is your passion
At first glance leaves a lasting impression
Paris catwalks, big small talk
The casting couch promise that'll put you worse off
Every evening London's receiving
A beat machine man-made and so deceiving
We got the groove now, we'll show the world how
To wake this planet up with a new sound now
I'm into fashion just because of you
It ain't the flash man, it's down to attitude
I'm into fashion all because of you
I got new fashion just designed for you
Silk emerald islands
Diamante high lands
A vouge sale scheme, just an empty day dream
Child labour out of favour
Fashion can have such a nasty flavour
I'm into fashion just because of you
It ain't the flash man, it's down to attitude
I'm into fashion all because of you
I got new fashion just for you
Hand me downs
I wear my rags well
I mix, match and I make it gel
Just hand it down
I'm breaking new ground
You'll always find me in a thrift store wheelin' around
I'm into fashion just because of you
It ain't the flash man, it's down to attitude
I'm into fashion all because of you
I got new fashion just for you
I'm into fashion just because of you
It ain't the flash man, it's down to attitude
I'm into fashion all because of you
I got new fashion just for you
Loading comments slowly
