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Rating: Introduction
Could 2007 have ended like this??!
Without any musical releases worth remembering??!
It could have... but that's not what happened.
So here I am to review an album that quite surprised me. It’s the latest endeavor of the Scandinavian band The Hives.
To be honest, I've always admired the Swedish quintet, whether for their sincerity or for the immediacy of their songs, but let’s say I never really fell in love with them. I didn’t pay much attention to the release of the new album, announced in Italy for October 15. However, my curiosity, often piqued by bands facing the ultimate test after releasing a great previous album, led me to get ahold of the album in question a few days later. I immediately notice significant differences in style, approach to mainstream, and collaborations. Thus, with the help of the internet and various MySpace pages, I get a clearer idea. It's a technique I often and gladly use... I turn on the player, put on the album, and dive into the internet to discover and understand the whys and wherefores.
I discovered that the album will be released by A&M/Octone Records (which also includes the 5 smoking browns... alias Maroon 5), a label among many that BMG uses to stay in the background... basically to try and conceal from the masses that behind the release of a band with a decidedly independent profile is a Major. It’s a trick that’s been working for years. But I’m certainly not here to discuss market laws... Anyway...what immediately catches the eye is the solemnity and grand presentation of the album. Singles released a month before the album, videos on rotation on major mainstream channels, contests, gadgets, etc... in short, something we've unfortunately been accustomed to for a long time..
Nonetheless, I don’t lose heart and continue my research and listening... already after the first three tracks, I'm on the balcony shouting for a miracle (there was no one there, it was 3 a.m...) but I feel so excited that I immediately put aside my skeptical preconceptions... After all, who cares?? Music first and foremost... You deliver a great album, and I will sing your praises. After all, little else matters...
Do you love rock and roll? Do you love garage punk? Do you love music?? Get yourself "The Black And White Album". Are you, like me, one of the many rockers who already knew and appreciated them??
Keep doing it, brothers.
The album is a pleasure to listen to. Try to stay still during the first 5 tracks, perhaps only by tying yourself to a chair... Sure, the Färjestaden quintet led by Mr. "Pelle Almqvist" this time spared no effort in style... effects, excellent songwriting, masterful production, electronic collaborations. The fact is that despite all this, the album sounds Rock and rock it does! The choruses and riffs are the same punches in the stomach we've been getting from the Hives for years... Sure, "Tyrannosaurus Hives" was an excellent album, direct and effective, but try listening to “You Got It All...Wrong” doesn't it seem like they've evolved while maintaining that rock and roll we love so much??In conclusion, to sum up, there are 7 or 8 classic Hives tracks, so as not to disappoint us and that's how it is... then there are definitely commendable electronic experiments, "It Won't Be Long” with synth and effects is the confirmation... and a gem of the album. Other electronic transitions are slightly less convincing like the subsequent "T.H.E. H.I.V.E.S.” and "Giddy Up" but don’t worry guys... trust me... the standard only drops on 2 or 3 tracks, and this absolutely doesn’t compromise the listening experience of the entire album from start to finish... indeed, it only diversifies the sound and makes the listening more enjoyable; those who love listening to albums in their entirety know what I’m talking about...
A little anecdote... for 2 weeks, I found myself questioning why I was paying more attention than usual to the dancing on Striscia la Notizia... I didn’t know it, but for a while, they'd been dancing to the single “Tick Tick Boom” released in late August in the States. Go ahead and sneer, uncompromising rock purists, but watching all that goodness dance with the Hives in the background is manna for those who love strong emotions and dangerous for the weak-hearted...
In conclusion, I wonder... if the magic formula that has distinguished them for years uses the aforementioned stylish elements with these results..?
The end justifies the means, always remember that.
Rating: 8.5.
A must-have, to be consumed without restraint.
enjoy90s
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tick Tick Boom (03:25)
Toy green.
Yeah,
I was right all along,
Yeah,
You come tagging along,
Exhibit A,
On a tray,
What you say,
Ends up thrown in your face,
Exhibit B,
What you see,
Well that's me,
I'll put you back in your place
Yeah I've done it before,
And I can do it some more,
So what you waiting for?
Yeah!
I was right all along!
[Chorus]
'Cause I have done it before,
And I can do it some more,
I've got my eye on the score,
I'm gonna cut to the door,
It's too late,
It's too soon,
Or is it...
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Boom!
Yeah
I was right you were wrong,
Yeah,
Going, going, you're gone!
I saw you hesitate, waiting too much,
'Till it slipped through your hands,
And then you stagger to your feet and out the door,
'Cause there's no second chance!
[Chorus]
(Shake it.)
Now you come crying to me...
But it's too late!
The man you're try hard to be,
But it's too late!
Get your head out the sand,
But it's too late...
It's too late,
Too late,
Too late,
Too late!
Yeah!
But it's too late!
Yeah!
But it's too late!
Get your head out the sand,
But it's too late!
It's too late, too late,
You know I've done it before,
And I can do it some more,
I've got my eye on the score,
I'm gonna cut to the door,
You know I've done it before,
And I can do it some more,
I've got my eye on the score,
I'm gonna cut to the door,
It's too late,
It's too soon,
It's too late,
It's too soon,
It's too late,
It's too soon,
Or is it...
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick
BOOM!
03 You Got It All... Wrong (02:42)
You wanna dance, and you really wanna let it go,
You want it bad, but the style has told you to go,
You want it
You do it fast when you really should do it slow
You got it bad, but this time I told you no
You're on it
Hey, it's true
But I wanna know
What you had or you did
So just let it go
You wanna laugh, and you really wanna let him know
You're so relaxed and you really gonna let it show
You want it
You really got what we worked through all the time
But you chose your way and I chose mine
You're on it
Hey, it's true
But I wanna know
What you had or you did
So just let it go
Oh no!
Remote control but you got it all
Oh no!
Ya stand ten feet tall 'cause you got it all
Oh no!
Remote control but you got it all
And you've got it all
But you got it all wrong!
We had a laugh but it turned into a don't
We had a line but now I wanna get out
You're on it
I was scared when I made love to you
I put a lid on it and thought, that's it, I'm through!
You're on it
Hey, it's true
But I don't wanna know
What you had or you did
So just let it go
Oh no!
Remote control but you got it all
Oh no!
You stand ten feet tall 'cause you got it all
Oh no!
Remote control but you got it all
Oh no!
Ya stand ten feet tall 'cause you got it all
And when I say you lose it, you don't believe it at all
It's such a long way to fall, but the writing's on the wall
But when I saw you lose it, I can't even recall
If it was the best of all, your brain, a pigeon-small
Because you got it all
You got it all
You got it all
But you got it all wrong
13 Puppet on a String (02:54)
Ha
Haha
Hahahaha
Hahahahaha
Hahaha
Like a puppet on a string, you hold on tight
You hold on tight, like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a string, you hold on tight
You hold on tight, you hold on tight you hold on tight...
Got your education from just hanging around
You got your brain from a hole on the ground
You come on up, look around for a will of your own
But your mine.....yeah!
Like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a string
With parts of an ice, and the mind of a monkey
Rode in the town, on the back, of what look like a dead donkey. . .
So I do to you, what a puppet master would do, can´t you tell?
Yeeeeeeeeeeeah!
Like a puppet on a string (Like a puppet on a string)
Like a puppet on a string (Is like a puppet on a string)
Like a puppet on a string (LIke a puppet on a string)
Like a puppet on a string
You got your education from just hanging around...
You got your brain from a hole in the ground
You come on up, look around, for a will of your own
But your mine......yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!
Like a puppet on a string, you hold on tight
You hold on tight, like a puppet on a string
Like a puppet on a string, you hold on tight
You hold on tight, you hold on tight, you hold on tight...
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