The Gypsy Pistoleros would be pigeonholed into a genre that I usually dismiss, but that would be a mistake in this case. Sure, there were some great glam bands, but most of those still hanging around are just old men who can’t admit their day has passed or young bands that want to recapture glam at its commercial peak (which… Read more »
Label: Bad Reputation Released: January 15, 2008 For those not familiar with the Gypsy Pistoleros, they play sleazy, gritty glam with a touch of Latin flair (although not quite as prevalent as they sell it, it certainly amounts to a lot more than just some Spanish lyrics). Unlike the many bands from the hair metal heyday of the 80s that… Read more »
Label: Full Breach Kicks Released: August 21, 2007 Here in the US, when most people think of glam, they think of Sunset Strip scene of the late 80s where hairspray had more to do with a band’s success than their music. Little known to so many on this side of the Atlantic, there was another glam scene across the ocean… Read more »
Label: Roxy Recordings Released: April 16, 2007 The Ark don’t do a single original thing on Prayer for the Weekend, but how many bands really do? To understand a band like the Ark is to understand their influences. In their best moments they channel the likes of Queen, Sweet and T Rex. They have a huge arena-sized sound and all… Read more »
Label: Universal Music AB Released: October 3, 2007 Even as an undercurrent to mainstream rock, a glam revival was one of the last things I expected to see. But this year has proved that a genre that was crumbling under its own bloated self twenty years ago might still have a little bit to offer. Sure, it’s full of “reunions”… Read more »
Label: Break a Leg Entertainment Released: October 24, 2007 Going into this review, I was under the impression that Helsinki’s Hellcity 13 was just another Scandanavian glam band, but unlike the rest, they don’t just want to revive hair metal, they want to revive the 80s almost as a whole. There is hard rock bombast that runs throughout the album,… Read more »
Label: Bad Reputation Released: November 2007 in Europe (June 13, 2006 in North America) The Flairs play a brand of hard rock that falls somewhere between glam and punk. Shut Up and Drive is a peppy album of chunky rhythms and snotty vocals that seldom lets up. Aside from a 3/4 female line-up, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. The… Read more »
Niki Thunders and the Temperamentals is the side project of Skitzo Calypso singer/guitarist Brad Cox. It’s a bit of an alter-ego, drawing more influence from punk, 80s pop and glam than the melodic hard rock of his main project. Niki Thunders offers three moody songs on Myspace that are somewhat varied musically, yet very cohesive. “To Die Like Morrison” begins… Read more »
Label: Full Breach Kicks Released: September 4, 2007 In their prime, Sweet was only about a half step from being the Bay City Rollers, but that half step made all the difference in the world and Sweet remains one of the best of the early glam bands. However, their close proximity to badness is a potential pitfall they pass on… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: 2007 The Underground Rebels have a decent hard rock pedigree featuring former Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat and former Cult drummer Lez Warner, but the band is really the creative (or not so creative) child of singer/guitarist Kurt Frohlich. Those expecting the swagger of Faster Pussycat or gritty hard rock of Electric-era Cult, beware, because this album… Read more »