Tag: bulletboys

Ah, the Bulletboys! They started out with so much promise with a killer first album, leaning on the Van Halen image and look, even using Ted Templeman as producer. Then followed two good albums, but not great, and if you put all the best bits from those first three you would have one of the best “hair band” albums ever made.

Then, they dropped off the map for a couple of years only to reappear with one of the worst albums ever: Acid Monkey. That is sort of when I checked out. There was a song called Kiss The Lizard that was good on that record, but it was not till the release of this album that I checked back in to see how they were getting along.

Now, other than the killer opener Apocalypto (favourite track) with a cool, raw, heavy riff and groove, and the hip hop flavoured track Sucker Punch, the Bullet Boys have turned into the Foo Fighters. Well, that’s what my ears are telling me anyway.

Not a bad thing, but is it the Bulletboys?

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

Warner Brothers must have thought they had struck gold when they came upon the Bulletboys. Having had success with Van Halen they must have thought they had found VH2 when they saw these guys. Hell, they even brought in Ted Templeman to weave his magic over the band. Marq Torien is a ringer for Dave and had all the stage moves to match, and the rest of the band looked the part, the vibe was slightly different however.  Now, that doesn’t mean this is a bad album, on the contrary, it’s a classic of late eighties hair band grooves. In fact, it’s a freakin’ superb album all the way through and they would not make anything better.

Hard As A Rock blasts its way into your ears with a kick ass riff and groove. That cheeky little ditty Smooth Up In Ya follows and is a sleazy dirty beast of a tune. Owed To Joe is another sleaze fest with Torien singing his ass off. Shoot The Preacher Down is pure VH, with that double kick groove and Ice Cream Man intro. For The Love Of Money is a cover of the O’Jays tune and sounds nothing like the original.

Side 2 opens up with glam anthem, Kissin Kitty. Pure LA sleaze n’ roll. Hell On My Heels is slowed down a tad and the riff is simple and huge. Crank Me Up is a turbo charged rocker that flies by. Badlands follows and is another sleazed up groover and I love the tempo change at the end. We close things out with F#9 and my favourite track on the album. A quirky little tune with a nice and dirty riff that I would say is a trademark Bulletboys tune. A great fun album.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

Call them what you will: good old glamsters, flash rock n rollers, Van Halen wannabes, they were called them all by the rock press at the time, but who cares when their debut album was kick ass! So how would they do on their second album? Well, the answer is rather well – although it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first. Again, it’s produced by Ted Templeman who squeezed every ounce of quality he could from the guys. Everything seems to be beefed up sound wise, the guitars sound huge, the separation of the rhythm section is fantastic, and Marq Torien’s vocals are right in your face.

Hell Yeah is a real kick ass tune to open things, it has a killer riff and groove. THC Groove carries on where the first track left off – a great 1, 2 opening. Thrill That Kills is a full on glam rocker – complete with sing-a-long chorus. My favourite track is next, Hang On St Christopher, with a super sleazy blues grove and swing – it adds that little element of surprise to the album. A pretty standard blues boogie is next with Talk To Your Daughter – one of the songs that falls a bit short for me. The title track closes out Side 1, and again it falls short compared to the first 4 tracks – even though Mick Swede plays some tasty licks.

Side 2 opens up with Good Girl which has a whacked out riff and is a standard rocker of the time. Do Me Raw is a return to slow and sleazy with a trickle out blues riff and groove. Ripping Me speeds things up and is as close as we get to ripping off VH on this album – it is a great tune with a fat riff. Say Your Prayers is – what I would call – a trademark Bulletboys track. Big riff, in your face vocal, and the sing-a-long chorus. Oh Me Oh My is as sleazy as it sounds and is just ok. Save the best to last they say, and it’s no exception here with the instrumental Huge. Well it does have one line “Have You Got The Balls”. I love this track and I would have bought the album just for this alone. They are great when they try some away from the norm.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

These guys were up against it right from the get go as they were being touted as the next Van Halen – and we all know boys and girls that that just isn’t happening. I get the similarities for sure, definitely with the image of the Dave Lee Roth wannabe in vocalist Marq Torien, but musically they were a lot different with a much simpler approach. I remember going to Nottingham Rock City to see them when they first came over, and they were good, but they only played for 48 minutes and see ya.

Hard As Rock gets things under way nicely – a good rockin’ tune and very blues based in structure. The not very subtle, Smooth Up In Ya, is next and is a typical hair rock anthem of the time. Owed To Joe follows and has that LA sleazy rock n roll vibe to it, and Torien shows what a powerful voice he has. Shoot The Preacher Down arrives and this is where they try to be VH – its very Hot For Teacher, but not a bad tune nonetheless. For The Love Of Money closes out Side 1 and is the weakest song so far.

Side 2 starts with the sleazy groove of Kissin Kitty, and you should be runnin’ to the wardrobe to unearth the spandex by now. The intro to Hell On My Heels reminds me of Kiss and it’s my least favourite track on the album. Crank Me Up is the out and out rocker on the album and is a great track. This should loosen up the dandruff. The super sleazy riff of Badlands is the intro to the penultimate track on the album, and is another great track – especially as they change the groove near the end. F#9 closes out the album and is the ultimate sleaze out rocker, lyrically as well as musically.

I know they are still going today, but they have fallen way down the food chain. The first three albums were the only ones that mattered, in fact, this is the best and the other two were very patchy. If someone was to release a best of, it would be killer, but they could never quite make a killer album. This is the one that came closest.

9/10 from The Grooveman.