Title: We Rock, You Suck!
Artist: Bloody Mary
Genre: Rock
Release Date: 2009
Label: Self-Released (distributed by Season of Mist)
Album Review
Hard Rock bands take two forms - those who are basically tribute bands that write their own songs, and those that are hard rock bands. BLOODY MARY are a Hard Rock band in the same way as AUDIOSLAVE or VELVET REVOLVER are - though BLOODY MARY have a strong bluesy 70's American rock by way of 80's Glam Metal sound and dragged back through a punk's wardrobe kind of look to set them apart.
With an album called ‘We Rock, You Suck!’ they obviously exude confidence, which I'm sure may come off as merely arrogant to more than a few people (who was it that said “Act like a Rockstar and you'll be treated like a Rockstar”?) - Whether the music lives up to the boastful posturing is another matter entirely. The band have the right sound to have slipped nicely into any rock decade of the past thirty -odd years, and there isn't that oh-so-obvious ripping off that you find in many bands of this type - so I can at least say they're genuine and original in their sound... it's just a shame that they set the bar a little too high for themselves.
'Mary Go Round' opens with a nice mid-tempo head banger fuelled by a chugging riff reminiscent of Ian Gillan fronted DEEP PURPLE, but I don't know if it is the production or the performance but it doesn't have the spark a good Hard Rock opener should. 'On My Own' follows on, and ups the groove for a slice of Bad Company style toe-tapping, sing-along pop-rock which is a good improvement over the previous track. 'Love is like Addictive', despite its cringe worthy title is a really good blues-riff driven by way of a MOTLEY CRUE chorus sing-a-long, again the production seems flat here but played live (turned up to 11) I'd bet it works at it's best. 'This Time Tomorrow' makes use of a rather tasty bass line (that unfortunately gets lost in the mix too often) to draw you in initially, but never gets out of third gear. 'Showtime' sounds like DEF LEPPARD a little too much... not an outright rip-off, but enough to warrant unfair comparisons which ultimately stand against it.
'Hollywood' takes what could pass for a MOTLEY CRUE riff and plays it at two thirds the speed that the Crue would, loosing all its sleaziness but pulling it back with one of the strongest vocal offerings on the album. 'Restland' has a rather pointless acoustic intro tacked on to the beginning of this token ballad - it is well performed, but not particularly memorable. Now 'Tequila' is a nice sleazy sounding song... actually with a song like this you know exactly what you're getting and the band don't disappoint on this one. I swear every band of this ilk in recent years has written a track called 'Big City Lights', and I swear they all sound the same as well, unfortunately BLOODY MARY haven't escaped this same pit. 'Living it Large' drags for about a minute before getting into its correct tempo, but doesn't exactly make the record go out with a bang.
Overall, BLOODY MARY could do a lot different, but I wouldn't discount them outright, as they do a hell of a lot right too on this album. The songs, while suffering from rather mediocre production, are solid rock songs that can stand up in their own right most of the time. What does let the band down is the constant inability to give their songs the extra kick up the arse to turn them from merely “solid” to “memorable”. With this being their first album, and released under their own steam, I don't doubt that they will be back soon with a label behind them and one or two tricks up their sleeves as well.
Tracklist
01. Mary Go Round
02. On My Own
03. Love is Like Addictive
04. This Time Tomorrow
05. Showtime
06. Hollywood
07. Restland
08. Tequila
09. Big City Lights
10. Living it Large
Line-up
Bloody Toy
Winterall
Muppet
Websites
http://www.myspace.com/bloodymaryrockband
Album Cover
Rating
Music: 6
Sound: 5
Extras: -
Total: 5.5 / 10
{jos_sb_discuss:19}
Comments powered by CComment