Hardcore Superstar
C’mon Take on Me
Nuclear Blast
2013
Hardcore Superstar is a fairly good band, which belongs on the second sleaze/glam metal wave that started in the late 90s. They may have a few nice songs on all their albums but they had never been a great rival not even for their co-patriots Crashdïet which rocked the world in the mid-00s. No word about a comparison with the big sleaze bands of the 80s!
Now that the specific genre is not on its way up but hangs on here and there, some who say that HS can… or will… or whatever… are mostly fantasizing. The last superb hard rock & roll album (with sleaze/glam features), I heard was from Wrathchild, so damn good a CD that never got the exposure it should have, for it wasn’t released from a major label and the story goes on and on.
Anyhow, not to stray outta our way, “C’mon Take on Me” is an OK album, but nothing spectacular in any way. Some fine hooks here and there but not a bombastic catchy as [email protected] tune anywhere. That’s so bad. It’s still nice to play it for a couple of times, but nothing too fancy here at all. The production is awesome though. The band produced the album themselves and the renowned Randy Staub (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Nickelback, Alice in Chains etc.) mixed it.
I’m a sucker for superb sleaze/glam metal music but all I can say is that during the last years we have a downfall on the particular genre and a general lack of freshness and ideas. Only very few bands are still going strong but the fans are not steadily supporting them, instead they keep looking for the well-advertised but kinda “hollow” ones, which have nothing more to give except for a few okay tunes once in a while. “C’mon Take on Me” won’t rock your world but it is listenable… then again where does this all go when there are not a lot of first-rate bands to support it?!
Now that the specific genre is not on its way up but hangs on here and there, some who say that HS can… or will… or whatever… are mostly fantasizing. The last superb hard rock & roll album (with sleaze/glam features), I heard was from Wrathchild, so damn good a CD that never got the exposure it should have, for it wasn’t released from a major label and the story goes on and on.
Anyhow, not to stray outta our way, “C’mon Take on Me” is an OK album, but nothing spectacular in any way. Some fine hooks here and there but not a bombastic catchy as [email protected] tune anywhere. That’s so bad. It’s still nice to play it for a couple of times, but nothing too fancy here at all. The production is awesome though. The band produced the album themselves and the renowned Randy Staub (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Nickelback, Alice in Chains etc.) mixed it.
I’m a sucker for superb sleaze/glam metal music but all I can say is that during the last years we have a downfall on the particular genre and a general lack of freshness and ideas. Only very few bands are still going strong but the fans are not steadily supporting them, instead they keep looking for the well-advertised but kinda “hollow” ones, which have nothing more to give except for a few okay tunes once in a while. “C’mon Take on Me” won’t rock your world but it is listenable… then again where does this all go when there are not a lot of first-rate bands to support it?!