Review: Hanoi Rocks

Hanoi Rocks
“Twelve Shots on the Rocks”
(Liquor and Poker)

One of the unsung originators of the glam movement returns 17 years after their demise.  As much glam as I soaked up in my misguided youth, I pretty much missed Hanoi Rocks the first time.  Which is probably cause Vince Neil killed their drummer in a car crash in 1984 and that pretty much folded the band right when their style of music was pioneering a new movement that would dominate the latter half of the 80’s.

I remember seeing Michael Monroe stammer his way through an interview around that time, so blown out of his mind, he could barely come up with an answer to any question posed.  So again, an expert on the Hanoi Rocks past catalog I am not.  Which is probably good when listening to a band that hasn’t released material in 17 years but is now offers forth a new album.  Talk about bad timing.

Does it rock though?   Sure.   Sometimes.  Often it riffs its way quite limply through a song.   “A Day Late, A Dollar Short” makes me cringe, as Monroe rhymes his way through such lyrical cheese, it’s almost indigestible.  I give it credit for not being dressed up in some 80’s flashback.  It has a sense of fun and doesn’t hit cliché as often as you would think.  It’s greasy rock.  It likes to drink and pet the ladies rock.  It’s a good time rock.  It’s a dated rock.  But it’s a solid rock.  I

ts got hints of a Faster Pussycat that might have grew up in New York.  I doubt the kids will get into this, but those of you who remember when it was cool that guys had bigger hair than girls, this ain’t bad.  17 songs that could have been trimmed down to about 10 to make a tighter album, but I guess they wrote a song for every year they were away.  But if that averages out to a year per song, the writing sure doesn’t reflect it.  Most of this is disposable.