HANOI ROCKS - Back to Mystery City

HANOI ROCKS Back to Mystery City cd 1983 320 kbps

Strange Boys Play Weird Openings / Malibu Beach Nightmare / Mental Beat / Tooting Bec Wreck / Until I get You / Sailing Down the Tears / Lick summer Love / Beating Gets Faster / Ice Cream Summer / Back to Mystery City / Ice Cream Summer (demo) / Until I Get You (demo) / Back to Mystery City (demo).

Produced by Dale Griffin and Overend Watts.

Hanoi Rocks : Michael Monroe : vocals, sax, harmonica / Andy Mc Coy : lead guitar / Nasty Suicide : rhythm guitar / Sam Yaffa : drums / Razzle : drums.

Finland's major export to the world of heavy metal, Hanoi Rocks, drew much of their sound and inspiration from '70s glam-rock and were thought by some to have fused the two styles more successfully than similar acts such as Mötley Crüe. Hanoi Rocks was founded in 1980 by singer Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy ; after some lineup changes, the rest of the group consisted of guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Sam Yaffa, and drummer Gyp Casino. All members except M. Monroe had previously played with Finnish punk bands. Their debut album, "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks", was released in 1981, and the band soon went to London to promote themselves and record "Oriental Beat". The band signed to CBS in 1983 and their remake of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Up Around the Bend" became their only U.K. chart single the next year, from the album "Two Steps From the Move". The group broke up in May 1985 after the death of Razzle , in a tragic automobile accident while a passenger in Vince Neil's car. In 2002, Monroe and McCoy reformed Hanoi Rocks, releasing three albums :"Twelve Shots on the Rocks"(2003), "Another Hostile Takeover"(2005) & "Street poetry"(2007). Hanoi Rocks will break up after a serie of farewell gigs in April 2009. A "definitive compilation" a 2-CD retrospective " This One's For Rock'n'Roll" was out on November 26th 2008. This package includes 33 songs, encompassing both distinctive parts of their career, the 80's and the new millennium. - From Allmusic

Having so obviously worshipped at the altar of Mott the Hoople for much of their career, it's little surprise that for their fourth album Hanoi Rocks went straight to the source, getting both Dale Buffin Griffin and Pete "Overend" Watts to produce "Back to Mystery City". Whatever else they brought to the sessions, the duo makes Hanoi Rocks sound like a much more powerful band than before; compared to "Self Destruction Blues", the riffs are more explosive, the drumming pounding, and Michael Monroe is in full swing. The aura of '50s rave-up, '70s glam party, and '80s hard rock chaos that the band made their own sounds even better than before, but the production duo also made even more room for intriguing experiments within the songs themselves. Thus, the full-on glam stomp, mock-Burundi drums, and animal noises during the merry romp "Tooting Bec Wreck" (one of many Hanoi Rocks songs paying homage to home-away-from-home London), or the clearly obvious "Mony Mony" steal from the title track, with reverbed vocals working wonders. One thing's for sure: calling the first song "Strange Boys Play Weird Openings," and having it be a mock rustic folk song -- with acoustic guitars, flutes, and chirping birds -- is a great way to have fun. More so, admittedly, when things suddenly kick into the brilliant rocker "Malibu Beach Nightmare." Other songs, like "Beating Gets Faster" and "Ice Cream Summer" (gratuitous misogyny aside), may be more Hanoi Rocks by-the-numbers, but it's a good enough pattern to follow. In their own way, they weren't so much pioneers as followers of a style that not many attempted at the time. They get extra points, as well, for having one of the more entertainingly crude song titles around: "Lick Summer Love." - Allmusic

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