BADMOUTH: "Heavy Metal Parking Lot"

Rating: 7/10

Label: Rambo Music 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

It's always hard to review an album when you know someone in the band, and this is the case with Badmouth. However, as always, I'm going to tell you what I really think about this album, be it good or bad. Fortunately it's mostly good.

Produced by Chips Kiesbye (The Hellacopters, Sahara Hotnights etc), "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" is the missing link between 80'ies metal and "actionrock" represented by The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies and the likes. The album has a great, powerful sound, yet there's enough nuances to keep it interesting and multi-dimensional.

"Son Of Sam" with its' eerie intro is a good opener, a straightforward hard rock track with a strong chorus. The next song "Radiator" lacks a little when it comes to the melodies, but I can't help but like it to some degree. "I need a radiator, 'cause baby you're so damn hot" - just for that line the song gets a thumbs up! "Judas" is one to skip for me, a rather boring fast rocker with not much of a hook to talk about. "Silver Lining" is much better, but still it's no match for "City Is Burning", a rather brilliant uptempo track with awesome guitar work and plenty of melody. Some interesting lyrics too... "I'm Gagney sans Lacey"?

The first video track "Tired" is the kind of an attitude-fuelled song that will surely appeal to all the angry young (and why not old) people. A surefire crowd pleaser, this one... the line "Why Don't you make like a tree, and get the fuck outta here" baffled me at first, but then I googled it - "make like a tree and leave" - get it? Anyway, apparently it was first used in the movie "Back To The Future"... you'll learn something every day!

"Bottoms Up" and the second video track "Blue Ribbon Days" kind of leave me cold, but I enjoy the title track a lot more. It's a throwback to the eighties with some pretty cool lyrics and a melodic chorus. And just when you thought that you knew what Badmouth were all about, they serve you a fine, authentic sounding Power Ballad á la "18 And Life" in "Jake Brakes". A fine song and it would've been the perfect closing track, but no, there's one more. I could've done without "Facing My Demons", which is frankly a really boring track with my pet hate - a chorus that consists of the song's title shouted repeatedly. "Judas" was already enough of that...

So let's have a look... 4 songs that I dislike more or less, and 7 songs that I like... translated into the rating language, that's a "7".

Website

Facebook