Sometimes when bands want to stretch out a bit and go a little crazy, they decide to put out a double album. Or a triple album. Or release two albums at the same time. Then we have Finish monster-rockers Lordi. They went completely off the rails and decided to release ten records at the same time. Their record-company probably wondered if they had gone completely mental and said no. Of course. Seven albums at the same time, however, was fine. That said, all albums will be released separately as well.
The idea behind this move came in the backwater of their last album Killection: A Fictional Compilation Album (2020), an album where the band schizophrenically mixed genres with each song to make it sound like, well a compilation album by different bands. So why not go all in and make a whole album with each genres on each album and release them all in one box, they thought. A killer idea thought everyone except for the record company as it financially is a complete nightmare to try to pull off a stunt like that especially in an age when few people buy records. I also wonder how on Earth someone can write so many songs in one batch without tampering with the quality. I mean it was only a year since Killection came out…
ABUSEMENT PARK
With this one, Lordi stays in the 80’s and goes into the sleazier, glammier and raunchier yet melodic Hard Rock. After an amusement park sounding intro, the band bursts into the title-track, a classic Hard Rock stomper, punchy and direct which is followed by “Grrr!” where they throws in some 80’s poppiness, catchy riffing and an early’s pop-rock chorus yet still pretty raunchy. “Ghost Train” and “Carousel” are both very hit-laden with shitloads of hooks and lots of late 80’s glossiness where the latter is a semi-ballad of sorts, insanely catchy where slightly spooky sounds blends with infectious melodies all over. Very good.
Both “House Of Mirrors” and “Pinball Machine” takes on a heavier route, headbang-friendly and stompy with the latter throwing in some Accept-like metal-riffage over the song’s core of sleaze-rock while randy and dirty Sunset Strip cock-rocker “Nasty, Wild & Naughty” blends Mötley Crüe and W.A.S.P. with kicking riffs and strong melodies with “Rollercoaster” taken a faster, crunchier path, going kick-ass Hard Rock, flirting rampantly with the Scorpions. Killer. “Up To No Good” is the album’s Killection track and as a closer we get a real curve-ball in the Christmas jingle power ballad “Merry Blah Blah Blah”. Cheesy, merry and ominous the song is the perfect carol, if you ask me. That said, it’s more fun than actually good per se.
Again, this style of music works very well with Lordi as much of it is recognizable as normal Lordi stuff, when they’re not Metal, that is. Still, they know the hook-strong and crowd-friendly, sleazy yet melodic US Rock of the late 80’s well and they’re damn good at it too. Another strong album that suits the band really well.
8/10
Tracklist:
1. SCG Minus 4: The Carnival Barker
2. Abusement Park
3. Grrr!
4. Ghost Train
5. Carousel
6. House Of Mirrors
7. Pinball Machine
8. Nasty, Wild & Naughty
9. Rollercoaster
10. Up To No Good
11. Merry Blah Blah Blah
SKELETRIC DINOSAUR
With this one Lordi goes all Classic Rock and takes us back to the mid to late 70’s – and Kiss especially, a band that Lordi has no problem relating to at all and a choice that on paper seems to fit like a glove. Vocally, Lordi (or someone) manages to mimic both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons amazingly well here and there and the sound is more Kiss pre Alive than post, which is also true in song structure and riffage. The album is also only 32 minutes long. After a spooky intro, Lordi goes off in “Day Off Of The Devil”, a song that screams Kiss around 1975 and holds said Stanley/Simmons imitations. It’s a rhythmic, raw and stripped rocker with all the pop-hooks Kiss did so well back then. As a whole a really good song.
“Starsign Spitfire” goes for a Rock And Roll Over (1976) vibe with a swinging ZZ Top-like boogie-rhythm, a huge groove and live-feel and they stay with Kiss’ late 1976 days with “Maximium-O-Lovin'”, a short and concise rocker with swinging bass-lines while the Killection track “Carnivore” is grittier and rawer and sounds like a classic Lordi tune albeit with a bigger 70’s Classic Rock touch. “Phantom Lady”, on the other hand, keeps the early 70’s Kiss sounds but throws in some recognizable early Alice Cooper riffing, adding a slight Southern Rock groove into the mix. It’s catchy and direct and very good.
With a riff borrowed from Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son”, the rest of the song is a stripped down Classic Rock stomper where only the rhythms reminds of Kiss but the core is early to mid 70’s Hard Rock with added 80’s Melodic Rock melodies in the chorus, “Blow My Fuse” is from Killection and the closing track “…And Beyond The Isle Was Mary” holds a main riff that is a fine blending of “Black Diamond” and “Rock Bottom”. That said, the tune is a pretty low-key, spacey instrumental with piano, keyboards and falling rain. A nice ending.
As a whole, this is a short and concise rock ‘n’ roll record that’s more or less a tribute album to Kiss. Soundwise, the band has re-created the lo-fi vibes of Kiss’ early albums, the same with the song-structure and even with the backing vocals. What’s missing though is Ace Frehley’s guitar sound and the way Peter Criss handled the drums back then. It’s a fun album and as much as I love the project itself the quality of the songs are a bit on the uneven side. No bad songs but the filler rate is a bit too high here. It’s a decent record, no ore no less.
6/10
Tracklist:
1. SCG Minus 7: The Arrival
2. Day Off Of The Devil
3. Starsign Spitfire
4. Maximum-O-Lovin’
5. The King On The Head Staker’s Mountain
6. Carnivore
7. Phantom Lady
8. The Tragedy Of Annie Mae
9. Blow My Fuse
10. …And Beyond The Isle Was Mary
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