The Poodles
Devil in the Details
Sony Gain
2015
The Poodles is a Swedish quartet, that likes to churn out melodic rock and did have quite a spectacular, almost meteoric rise in popularity with their first three albums, that contained a lot of well-crafted songs, in the vein of Talisman and similar bands. A rather weak album followed and yet another one that tried to patch up things and half succeed in doing so, while the band was ceaselessly touring up and down Sweden and whenever they could abroad mostly around Scandinavia, but sometimes even further than that.
Their sixth album “Devil in the Details” marks another line-up change (Pontus stepped down prior to the release of this album) seems like an attempt to recapture their melodic crown, but does it manage to do so? It’s open to debate, I suppose.
“Before I Die” is an uplifting opener, in a typical Poodles style, pompous and energetic, that is a good first sample, of the new album
The single “House of Cards” is very rhythmical but sounds a bit too “recycled”. It’s not necessarily the fact that the band actually re-used a part, but it does sound like a pastiche of “Sweet Trade” parts of songs and as such it is a little less appealing than a lead of single should have been. That said, it’s “commercial” enough, but in the past the band has done a lot better, coming up with catchy singles.
“The Greatest” is a mid-tempo song that unfolds slowly. Again it’s not terribly original and seems to be utilizing some old tricks from the band’s bag, but it marginally manages to avoid being a disappointment, by the strength of its chorus, although I could have done w/o the autotuned, crowd sing-a-longs.
“Crack in the Wall” begins with an intriguing enough riff, is highly rhythmic and manages to pique the interest of the listener. Again, by harkening to their debut, the band comes up with a decent refrain and keeps the listener interested, but with a better chorus, this song could have been a classic...
“What the Hell Baby” begins with some funky, muted guitars and has a rather peculiar style… it tries to differentiate itself, but I’m afraid to say, it sounds like a somewhat ill-conceived idea, that in the way got half a decent vocal melody, but was pretty doomed from the beginning.
“Everything” goes as far as to mimic, one of the band’s old riff's in a mock tone and the verses pass, without the song unloading its payload... which it does during its prechorus+chorus, semi successfully.
But it’s sad that the band has to “revisit” their past – to this extend to come up with something half-decent.
“Stop” again revisits the past, in a way, to come up with a “funky” take on a rhythmical idea, that sounds “old” and JS, really sings whatever comes to his mind...
“Need to Believe” is dipping even lower by using the riff of “Kashmir”, (by Led Zep) which is bastardizes with half a rhythmic idea, lifted from Aerosmith’s “Crying” (...had an angel of mercy...) and a little bit of Gotthard and a bit of their own… seriously?! I hope they have credited, everyone involved in this pastiche of a “song”...
“Alive” is a slow-unfolding, composition that again, doesn’t go far, but is somewhat saved by its half decent chorus.
“Life without You” is a typical uplifting soft rocker by the band, that tries to delve into pop a bit, but the chorus never actually “arrives”. There’s a nice solo... but this needed a better chorus and could have been “golden”...
“Creator and Breaker” is actually pretty extreme in its ideas and vocal acrobatics. While I was a little negatively pre-occupied, after a number of rather disappointing songs, its smart arrangements and daring vocal performance during the chorus, made me change my mind.
“Borderline” is slipping into semi-ballad territory, but quickly switches to a passionate chorus, thus leaving a positive impression.
Well once again The Poodles, manage a few good songs, but they seem more and more hitting some sort of writers block, necessitating to “revisit” some of their own stuff or even “borrow” some stuff which is quite sad, since they are a highly entertaining band... live. I really hope they sort themselves out and manage to release an album after these, that would be up to their first three albums, because “devil” is not it.
Their sixth album “Devil in the Details” marks another line-up change (Pontus stepped down prior to the release of this album) seems like an attempt to recapture their melodic crown, but does it manage to do so? It’s open to debate, I suppose.
“Before I Die” is an uplifting opener, in a typical Poodles style, pompous and energetic, that is a good first sample, of the new album
The single “House of Cards” is very rhythmical but sounds a bit too “recycled”. It’s not necessarily the fact that the band actually re-used a part, but it does sound like a pastiche of “Sweet Trade” parts of songs and as such it is a little less appealing than a lead of single should have been. That said, it’s “commercial” enough, but in the past the band has done a lot better, coming up with catchy singles.
“The Greatest” is a mid-tempo song that unfolds slowly. Again it’s not terribly original and seems to be utilizing some old tricks from the band’s bag, but it marginally manages to avoid being a disappointment, by the strength of its chorus, although I could have done w/o the autotuned, crowd sing-a-longs.
“Crack in the Wall” begins with an intriguing enough riff, is highly rhythmic and manages to pique the interest of the listener. Again, by harkening to their debut, the band comes up with a decent refrain and keeps the listener interested, but with a better chorus, this song could have been a classic...
“What the Hell Baby” begins with some funky, muted guitars and has a rather peculiar style… it tries to differentiate itself, but I’m afraid to say, it sounds like a somewhat ill-conceived idea, that in the way got half a decent vocal melody, but was pretty doomed from the beginning.
“Everything” goes as far as to mimic, one of the band’s old riff's in a mock tone and the verses pass, without the song unloading its payload... which it does during its prechorus+chorus, semi successfully.
But it’s sad that the band has to “revisit” their past – to this extend to come up with something half-decent.
“Stop” again revisits the past, in a way, to come up with a “funky” take on a rhythmical idea, that sounds “old” and JS, really sings whatever comes to his mind...
“Need to Believe” is dipping even lower by using the riff of “Kashmir”, (by Led Zep) which is bastardizes with half a rhythmic idea, lifted from Aerosmith’s “Crying” (...had an angel of mercy...) and a little bit of Gotthard and a bit of their own… seriously?! I hope they have credited, everyone involved in this pastiche of a “song”...
“Alive” is a slow-unfolding, composition that again, doesn’t go far, but is somewhat saved by its half decent chorus.
“Life without You” is a typical uplifting soft rocker by the band, that tries to delve into pop a bit, but the chorus never actually “arrives”. There’s a nice solo... but this needed a better chorus and could have been “golden”...
“Creator and Breaker” is actually pretty extreme in its ideas and vocal acrobatics. While I was a little negatively pre-occupied, after a number of rather disappointing songs, its smart arrangements and daring vocal performance during the chorus, made me change my mind.
“Borderline” is slipping into semi-ballad territory, but quickly switches to a passionate chorus, thus leaving a positive impression.
Well once again The Poodles, manage a few good songs, but they seem more and more hitting some sort of writers block, necessitating to “revisit” some of their own stuff or even “borrow” some stuff which is quite sad, since they are a highly entertaining band... live. I really hope they sort themselves out and manage to release an album after these, that would be up to their first three albums, because “devil” is not it.