Hanoi Rocks
Twelve Shots On The Rocks

THE REVIEW

Awe and reverence: these are the two words that describe how I feel when starting to review an album by a band like Hanoi Rocks. After all, I'm talking about people who, in their own small way in the sleazy-street-rock scene, played a fundamental role comparable to that of many more successful musical legends. Just to be clear: thanks to their influence, bands like Guns N' Roses produced songs like Paradise City, and every band from the last decades of the so-called Scandinavian rock had to pay a huge tribute to these gentlemen from Helsinki. After laying the groundwork for future and certain success in the early '80s with five masterpiece albums of the sleaze rock movement of that era, as everyone knows, the group disbanded following the tragic death of drummer Razzle, only to return twenty years later with this work. From the historic crew, only singer Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy remain, assisted by three shady characters (Costello, Timpa, and Lacu). Let's say right away that the writing doesn't reach past levels, with a bit too many fillers towards the end (see "Lucky" or the bland minimalist ballad "Designs On You") and a couple of well-done but slightly off-theme covers (not so much "Delirious" by the Heavy Metal Kids, as "Winged Bull" by the duo Hall & Oates, fascinating but with too much of an AOR flavor compared to the rest of the album). Nevertheless, with a handful of classy strokes, the "muddy twins" manage to take the mind back to those magical early years where immersing yourself in their music could suddenly transport you to a world perfect for you, making you feel sexy, naive, dirty, and eternal. In this sense, tracks like "People Like Me," "Obscured," and "A Day Late, A Dollar Short" work great, where Monroe's vocal melodies and sax intertwine with the lightness of McCoy's guitar, creating that typical melancholic yet electric, festive, and gritty sound that rock has always needed.