Lean On Me: good!
J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 10/21/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"sadly, Hanoi Rocks always seemed to be standing on the side, watching as the bands who they influenced skyrocketed to stardom. bands like Poison, Motley Crue, and Guns N' Roses. but frankly, Hanoi Rocks contains alot more charm and better songs than any of those bands. fusing the best elements of glam, blues, pop, and some strong dub/reggae undertones (mostly in some of the basslines used in a few of their songs); Hanoi Rocks forged a back catalogue of essential and highly influential albums. recommended listening for fans of T.Rex, The New York Dolls, and The Clash.
this is a collection of their hits and some rare songs. most of the unreleased stuff come from the same recording sessions as the "Two Steps From The Move" album and are pretty good, but they pale in comparison to the other stuff on here. a nice disc for fans of the band, but probably not the best place for the newbie to begin."
A little weird, yet very good...
Erick Bertin | Santo Domingo, Heredia Costa Rica | 06/26/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the last installment of the remastered, re-released Hanoi Rocks records. First let me start by saying that Hanoi Rocks is my favorite band EVER! I love every single piece of music they ever released, and I have all of their records (which i will be reviewing shortly). I even have 2 cassettes from the 80's domestic release on Uzi Suicide Records (yes, that's right, GN'R label)that I keep in pristine conditions and that I am taking with me to my grave.
Enough of that: all of these remastered CD's (4 studio records, 1 live album and this compilation)have a clear, butt kicking sound, and they each include a very interesting essay about the rocks, Hanoi Rocks that is, that are worth the money by themselves. This CD is an after the fact compilation done by Andy McCoy (the band's guitarist and main songwriter) in '92. The first half are 6 previously released songs from their 4 independently released studio records, and they are supposed to be live favorites. As I said before, I love them all, but the choice it's a bit odd for me, since such a live jewel as "Visitor" (from sophomore disc "Oriental Beat"), just to name 1 example, is missing.
But I am sure that you, just like me, are not buying this because of those 6 songs, but rather the 7 unreleased tracks: they are excellent, and save maybe for the final instrumental, very entertaining (I am not very fond of instrumentals): "Life's been Hard" is my favorite of the pack, aggressive, bluesy and catchy. "Heart attack" is supposed to be an out-take from "Two Steps from the Move", Hanoi's only major label release that rocks nicely. "Menaced by the nightingales" is a twisted, sick ballad that only Hanoi Rocks could write, really touching. "Fast Car" is a foot on the accelerator catchy rocker, "Shame Shame Shame" is a Nasty number (pun fully intended!), and "Rock n'Roll" is a typical, good time Hanoi Rocks song. And even if i don't like instrumentals too much, "Lean on Me" also sounds like Hanoi Rocks, only missing Mike Monroe's vocals.
The only bad thing about this release is the under representation of material recorded with dearly missed drummer Razzle. Most of these unreleased songs are in fact demos that Hanoi Rocks did after Razzle's untimely death and after original bassist and groove master Sammy Yaffa quit the band(and shortly before breaking up), with Terry Chimes and Rene Berg replacing them respectively. It is difficult to notice that if you don't read the essay, 'cause all the songs sound unmistakably Hanoi, but I am sure that was not the case for the band members themselves. Razzle was gone, and so was the magic that made the band what it was. As Ian Fortman (the writer of the essays) clealy states(and don't get me wrong, I was also a huge GN'R fan) "without them [Hanoi Rocks] there would have been no GN'R, yet if they'd ultimately prevailed there would have been no need of GN'R." Nuff said!! Enjoy!
"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1