Believe it or not, but once upon a time, Finish monster rockers Lordi were underground. Yes, they have always played hard rock that was on the commercial side with catchy, radio friendly choruses. But then they won the Eurovision Song Contest with their ”Hard Rock Hallelujah” song and became famous all over Europe. The problem with winning that contest and dressing up as monsters is that it’s hard to be taken seriously no matter how many good songs you write. And on their earlier albums, there are actually a lot of them. But after the contest another problem occurred. They became very popular among kids. Small children. Nothing wrong with that, but for a hard rock band that wants to make it big, it’s not a good career move to being seen as some kind of circus that draws so many little kids who brings their parents to the concerts, making a family day out of it. That way, the rock fans stays at home because very few rockers wants to be associated with that kind of spectacle.
Their previous album, their first after the contest, Deadache, was really good, but it didn’t exactly ship platinum. This album however, feels rushed. The melodies and the lyrics are in normal Lordi style, but many of the songs here are lacking in quality. Maybe they have taken this concept as far as they can? But despite some uninspired tracks, there are some pretty good ones as well. The title track is pretty good, sounding like the Lordi of old, ”This Is Heavy Metal” sounds like Kiss’ ”War Machine” meets some German Power Metal outfit. Corny, but it kind of works in some weird way. ”Call Off The Wedding” is a ballad, not very usual for this band, but it is actually really good. ”Midnight Lover” is best of all with its Bon Jovi goes monster kind of melody and ”Granny’s Gone Crazy” is both catchy and weird at the same time. Sounds like Alice Cooper and King Diamond got together and wrote a pop song, if you can imagine that. Also, the production isn’t exactly top-notch either. Sounds thick and messy and all the instruments are rolled into a big batter. The album isn’t bad, but I’m not sure if they can take their horror shock popmetal any further. It feels like they are making the same album over and over again. Maybe it’s time for a change. A big one.
Jon Wilmenius (5/10)
Tracklist:
1. Scg5: It’s A Boy!
2. Babez For Breakfast
3. This Is Heavy Metal
4. Rock Police
5. Discoevil
6. Call Off The Wedding
7. I Am Bigger Than You
8. Zombie Rawk Machine
9. Midnite Lover
10. Give Your Life For Rock ‘n’ Roll
11. Non Stop Nite
12. Amen’s Lament To Ra
13. Loud And Loaded
14. Granny’s Gone Crazy
15. Devil’s Lullaby
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