HANOI ROCKS
“Oriental Beat – 40^th Anniversary Re(al)mix”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Hanoi Rocks are a hard rock band from Finland formed at the turn of the eighties by singer Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy. The band endured a number of line-up changes throughout their career – a career that produced eight studio albums, two live albums, and numerous singles and compilation albums. But it’s the bands sophomore album ‘Oriental Beat’ that’s been a bone of contention for the band for many years.

Released in 1982 – recorded with the line-up of Monroe, McCoy, guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Sami Yaffa, and drummer Gyp Casino – ‘Oriental Beat’ was “the worst sounding album of our career” says Sami, with Monroe adding “the producer of the album didn’t have a clue what the band was about, and his mix of the album was horribly wrong”. Emerging before the band could remix or re-record it, the band has always considered the original mix of ‘Oriental Beat’ to be a “disaster”.

Fast forward forty years, and the album gets the redux treatment, officially mixed and revived from the original sessions. Dubbed the “re(al)mix”, this 40th anniversary edition was mixed by Petri Majuri in collaboration with the band. Singer Monroe says “it’s not just a remix, but the REAL MIX, supervised and approved by Hanoi Rocks”. Guitarist Nasty Suicide adds “only now, with stripping it down to the bare essentials and tweaking it to bring out what was really laid down, it became our dream come true. THIS is what it’s all about”.

Monroe adds, “40 years after it’s original release, we finally got the album sounding as great as it deserves”, with guitarist McCoy adding “it’s better now than ever. This is what it was meant to sound like”.

So what does it sound like…

…hard fucking rock with a hint of punk! Hanoi Rocks emerged at the beginning of the eighties when punk was all the rage – so it was only natural a little punk was melded into the bands root hard rock sound. The title song ‘Oriental Beat’ opens the album in boisterous fashion, the band punching hard and kicking harder – ‘Motorvatin’ maintaining the momentum, full of attitude, arrogance and a defiant yell that Hanoi Rocks are not gonna bend or bow to anyone. Monroe and company carving their own path in the rock world, defintiely not following someone else’s! Even the bands rock swagger hadn’t been seen or heard before – or even after! The album marching on with the anthemic thunder of ‘No Law Or Order’, and a gorgeous sing a long style chorus.

And with an injection of energy and happiness, ‘Teenangels Outsiders’ is an up beat and raucous romp of hard rock – aimed I’m guessing at rebellious teenagers! After all, it was hordes of teenagers that quickly became the bands fans and followers. A little bit darker than everything heard so far, ‘Sweet Home Suburbia’ is a thunderstorm of heavy riffing but with a melodious chorus break – the band weaving their own path around the rock genre! And as a young twelve year old when ‘Oriental Beat’ (the album) came out, any song that included my name, or any part of – such as initials, always grabbed my attention. And in the shape of ‘MC Baby’ I was hooked! And yea I know it wasn’t directed at me – referring to “motorcycle” rather than “Mathew Collins”. But I was young and impressionable, so give me my moment! That all said, ‘MC Baby’ is very rock and roll, care free and wild – a real banger of a tune! ‘Don’t Follow Me’ is the direction hard rock went during the early eighties, the burgeoning rock evolution just getting underway with the likes of Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and Poison emerging onto the world scene – but Hanoi Rocks got there first!

With the band striding tall and proud, the album marches on with ‘Visitor’, displaying everything Hanoi Rocks have up their sleeve. Melding anthemic party vibes with pounding rock, ‘Visitor’ is one of many highlights the album has to offer. An album that charted at number three in the bands home country of Finland! Continuing their exploration of the rock genre, the band become a little bluesy for ‘Lightnin’ Bar Blues’, a swaggering, staggering stroll of blues rock. ‘Devil Woman’ – and no, not a cover of the Cliff Richard classic from his 1976 album ‘I’m Nearly Famous’ – is a Hanoi Rocks original, and maintains the blues rock feel from the previous song. Albeit at a heavier and more thunder fuelled tempo! Bringing the album to a close, ‘Fallen Star’ is a power ballad with soulful vocals – all the oomph and energy of the album up to this point replaced in favour of a mellow meander.

Overall, ‘Oriental Beat’ has had a major makeover – this updated, remixed and revitalised edition is a barnstormer.

TRACKLIST

Oriental Beat
Motorvatin’
No Law Or Order
Teenangels Outsiders
Sweet Home Suburbia
MC Baby
Don’t Follow Me
Visitor
Lightnin’ Bar Blues
Devil Woman
Fallen Star

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