I actually got into Hardcore Superstar as this album was released, but for some reason I barely even listened to it until recently. I kind of like it, it’s not brilliant, but it certainly have some great moments.
Hardcore Superstar is a sleaze band through and through, they look the part, act the part and play the music. After their “No Regrets” album they have taken a harder path musically. The music is now leaning more towards a GnR sound than the earlier Hanoi Rocks or Mötley Crüe sound. I both like and dislike it.
The album has a few stand out tracks, some songs that rock hard and heavy. In this kind of party anthem type music an easy sing-along chorus is of the utmost important, along with a guitar riff that’s both heavy, memorable and airguitar friendly. These two general rules apply to all kinds of party rock, glam or sleaze. If it gets too complicated, the vibe is gone and I skip to next song. Technicality is for prog-rockers not for sleazy party people.
That said, we can continue on to the music. The opening track “Need No Company” is a great live song, not the best studio song. It gets a bit boring and loses its drive in the studio version.
“Medicate Me” is great. It’s just got this x-factor thing going that I can’t explain. The melody isn’t that great, the riff isn’t that good, but combined it just works. The title track is a ballady type of song that contains some hard hitting, but not much. It’s a nice song for singing along to.
“Sophisticated Ladies” is brilliant! Everything is sleazy on this one, the guitars are so slick they would make a greasers hair seem dry and sandy. The lyrics are hilariously sleazy as well. The next song worth mentioning is “Sorry for the shape I’m in,” a nice little rocker about hang overs.
The rest of the songs don’t do much for me. The sound of the album makes it blend a little together. It’s not that it doesn’t sound good, it’s more that everything sound the same. I’m all in favor of the thought that an album should have a similar sound, but when every song has the exact same guitar sound, the exact same bass sound, the vocals sound the same … it’s no longer a good thing.
tungmetal 