GINA HADLEY: "Slave 2 Love"

Rating: 8/10

Label: Indie Music 2011

Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

"I'm a Rebel, Rebel, doin' my own thing goin' against the grain. Yeah, I'm changin' up the game. I'm a Rebel, Rebel, breakin' all the rules doin' what I wanna do. You don't like it? than fuck you", end quote. Yeah, goddamnit, that's what I like the most about Gina Hadley. She's no starry-eyed, no-brain, record label puppet and she's doing her own thing when it comes down to both music and image (image-wise, it's some weird kind of mixture of Pink, Tina T and Wendy O'Williams). "Got a big ego and I talk smack. But I write my own shit so I can do that" is yet another fine example of the attitude to expect on her debut album.

"Slave 2 Love" is pure class from the opening rock anthem, "I'm A Rebel" to the closing track, "Into The Night". I can however understand if a record such as this could disappear or drown in the massive U.S. music industry. You know, especially considering that it's pure independent and borderline crazy at times. Honestly, this would sell plenty if it had been released in Sweden or any other European country (perhaps with the exception of England). Do not expect this to be all rock and uptempo though as it's very much R&B, Soul, and just a couple of crazy rock tunes. It's Pink doing an album with R.Kelly composistions and Lenny Kravitz as the guitarist??? Well, nah, that's clearly not the entire truth... and Gina's sound is more than just one third of these artists.

Check out the marvelous ballad, "Liar", sure, the melody borrows quite a lot from Michael Jackson and R.Kelly, but it's drama and energy to its fullest. I miss however a couple of more uptempo rockers such as the smashing opener (there's a lot of ballads on this CD), but it's still a record above most artists of today. The jazzy blue "Who's The Fool" and "Is She The One" are completely different from eachother yet the same classy approach to smooth music. "Oak Tree" is the old seventies blues, R&B done today, while "Just Trust Me" is yet another excellent Michael Jackson vs. R.Kelly ballad. Nope, it's not quite "rock" (far from it at times), but it's all class... what a lass. Check out the "All About The Album" interview at RockUnited.com and Gina's site for more info and music samples (links below).

RockUnited Interview

Website