Rough Edge: Crashdiet CD Reviews

CRASHDIET

"The Unattractive Revolution" (Universal; 2007)

Reviewed by Metal Mark

I was fairly optimistic about this CD from Sweden's Crashdiet going in and the opener, "In the Raw," hooked me right away. It has a bit of a Tigertailz-meets-early-Motley Crue flavor to it with some catchy vocals and a strong overall flow. There is also a slight similarity to their fellow countrymen Loud-n-Nasty. "In the Raw" is a great way to begin an album and the second track, "Like a Sin," followed up nicely as well. It's a bit more mid-tempo, but just as striking and surprisingly smooth.

At this point, I was ready to think that this album was really going to be something but I was a little premature with those thoughts. After those first two tracks, the material tends to slow down some and the sparkle that began the CD fades a little. The material is decent, but many of the songs fall into one of two categories: There are tracks that just kind of wander on without any big hooks or real direction and instead just sort of meander around for three minutes and then there are songs that start off all right and have the huge production values that are present through this whole album.

Still, none of the tracks ever quite lives up to the sleaze glam sound that I am was hoping for, instead settling for a Bon Jovi-meets post-"Shout at the devil" era-Motley Crue approach. Of course, that's the band's prerogative, but I was expecting something a little more edgy from them based on their image and the early tracks on this album.

Crashdiet showed that they can combine glam and be melodic, but much of the album goes too far over to a sound that, twenty years ago, would have been referred to as "radio friendly."

I love the vocals and I appreciate the production values yet if you smooth all the edges on this kind of music then you are left with something that's not far from ordinary pop rock and I don't think that's entirely what they had in mind.

A decent album for certain, but not as good as I was hoping it turn out.

For more information, check out http://www.myspace.com/realcrashdiet.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

Back to CD Reviews Home

Back to RoughEdge.com Home