Switzerland’s other rock band – you know – the one you’ve never heard of.
Krokus are the band that everyone knows, but China seems to dip under the radar. It’s a shame, as this is a great hair metal record – if they would have been from LA they would have made a big noise. A definite candidate for hair metal Monday.
Opening track, Shout It Out, is a superb hair metal stomp with a sing-a-long chorus and great riff. Back To You was actually written by Krokus’ Fernando Von Arb and would have been a great single – it’s just a great fun song. The Fight Is On is a track that Motley Crüe would have died to have written – a great chorus and melody – this track really rocks. Big hair power ballad time is next with Wild Jealousy and it’s a bit of a mood killer for me as we were really motoring, but it’s a decent enough tune. The glam is back up and rockin’ with Rock City with its simple riff and groove, but these songs work so well.
Over to Side 2 we go with Hot Lovin’ Night and it’s a similar vibe and groove as where we left with Side 1. I love the twin guitars of Freddy Laurence and Claudio Matteo – they make a killer pair, and with the vocals of Math Shiverow you wonder why these guys weren’t bigger. Living On The Stage has a nice funky undertone to the groove of the song, and with a fat riff makes a cool change of pace. I Need Your Love has a cool blues boogie swing before it’s back to ballad city with One Shot To The Heart. A nice choppy Van Halen style riff and a Hot For Teacher double kick shuffle announces the arrival of the album closer, Stayin’ Alive – a kick ass way to end the album.
This is a really good album that gets docked a point for double ballad murder – even though the second one does rock more and it turns into a Poison style sing a long.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
