The Hellacopters (R.I.P.) will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I will always regard them as the best rock & roll band of all time. Big words, I know, but I honestly can't think of another band in rock history that was as consistently amazing as this Stockholm quintet. Seven albums between 1996 and 2008, and all seven are masterpieces. Not too shabby, eh?
Grande Rock, their third album, was a big leap forward and would set the template for everything they did up to their parting ways in the winter of 2008. Their early singles and the 1996 debut album Supershitty To The Max! were big noise fests where everything was distorted, even the distortion itself. It's the sort of album that murders any speaker and made The Stooges' Raw Power step down from the Ear Torture Throne and retire to a sheep farm in New Zealand where it remains to this day knitting wooly knickers and cries in its porridge each morning.
The follow up, 1997's Payin' The Dues, surprised everyone by being slightly less noisy and exhibiting a more refined sense of melody. But that was nothing like progression that was Grande Rock. And album that in several ways was a sort of rebirth for The Hellacopters.
After Payin' The Dues, Dregen, guitarist and the biggest star and focal point of the band left due to his commitment to his original band, sleaze rockers Backyard Babies, and left The Hellacopters in a bit of a limbo regarding the second guitarist position. By the fourth album, 2000's High Visibility, they'd settled for former Silvermachine guitarist and current Thunder Express/Dundertåget frontman Robert Dahlquist (who would remain with the band for the rest of its days), but on Grande Rock keyboardist Anders "Boba" Lindström took on additional guitar duties, giving the album a give different flair absent from all other albums in the Hellacopters catalogue.
This was also the first album to be recorded outside Stockholm - the band went to an old prog studio from the 70's out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Apparently quite traumatic for the asphalt & concrete dwellers in the band, but it did give the album a very classic 1970's sound. Clean, dynamic, bone dry, and very different from anything they had done before.
For whatever reason the band sounded more loose and relaxed on this album. Perhaps it was the result of growing up a bit and realising you don't have to be all rebellious and live your "FUCK YOU!" attitude 24/7 and make the biggest ruckus you can muster. They discovered it's okay to tone things down, to be mellow and embrace melodies. Maybe the leaving of Dregen liberated them a bit as well. It's possible since the band recorded their most memorable releases without him, starting with this one.
I hate to use the phrase "classic rock", but there is really no other term that sums this album up better. Influences from Motörhead, New Bomb Turks, The Stooges etc that were prevalent on their early works are almost entirely absent here, instead replaced by MC5, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, early Status Quo, Kiss, and even Ted Nugent.
Not The Hellacopters' best album (that title would go to 2002's epic By The Grace Of God), but of the three albums they released in the 90's this is the brightest shining star.
And unfortunately, sadly overlooked.
(mp3) The Hellacopters - Alright already now
(mp3) The Hellacopters - Move right out of here
(mp3) The Hellacopters - Venus in force (recommended!)
Buy Grande Rock @ Amazon.com, why don'cha.
The video for Move Right Out Of Here:
2 comments:
Fuck yes!
Easily the best Swedish rock and roll band, and they're definitely on my top 5 (or maybe even top 3) list of all time great, pure rock and roll bands.
The only other band I can think of right now, that I would rate higher, is those crazy Japanese dudes in Electric Eel Shock. But that could very well be because of the fact that they completely blew me away when I stumbled across them the first time, and that they play awesome balls-to-the-walls music. For that, they've earned a special place in my heart.
And Hellcaopters will be sorely missed indeed...
This album blew me away too. Supershitty grew on me (was still a death metal snob at the time) and Payin' The Dues really hit me good. But this one still stands as the best of The Hellacopters.
I think we diverge on their later days (to me PTD, this & High Visibility were their very best albums) but hands down they hit their mark here. I kinda missed their noisier days but every track here is killer.
p.s. my buddy first thought "Dog Day Mornings" was "Dog Named Orange". Those were some high times.
pps. Pretty sure got the vinyl double album of PTD around the same time.... the live "Downright Blue" and the extended jam on "Born Broke" should find their way into a re-issue one of these days. Really good context for this album as that was a great sign of what was to come next on Grande Rock.
Post a Comment