![]() Original opener, Motorvatin’ is dropped down the batting order but that doesn’t diminish its impact as a fine companion piece to the preceding tune. ![]() Now kicking off with the title track, it’s straight into the sleazy rock riffs and abrasive punk attitude, lifted from the New York Dolls’ playbook, the Finns instantly create the soundtrack to debauchery, proving themselves to be dangerous a full five years before Guns N’ Roses would appear. In revisiting Oriental Beat, the Rocks have revamped the running order, giving the long-time listener a fresh experience with the record. Missing Master Tapes and general dissatisfaction with sound could have derailed the Rocks’ momentum but stronger wills prevailed, and the band have finally been able to recreate Oriental Beat as the rock monolith it deserves. Originally referred to as “the worst sounding album of our career” and with a producer who “didn’t have a clue what he was doing” the band soldiered on until they ran out of money. Only didn’t have the wherewithal back then to realise their ambition. Album DescriptionAlbum Review: Hanoi Rocks – Oriental Beat (40th Anniversary)ĭubbed by some as the “re(al) mix” and by vocalist, Michael Monroe, as “the longest and slowest album project ever", finally, Hanoi Rocks’ sophomore album, Oriental Beat, is being resurrected into the rock monster the band always knew that it was. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. Due to this tragic turn of events Oriental Beat has to unfortunately stand as an album by a band full of potential that sadly was never given a chance to fulfill it. In 1984, the band's drummer, Razzle, died in a car accident as a passenger in a car driven by Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil the band broke up a year later. By listening to this album you can see the influence Hanoi Rocks had on the artists that followed them. Oriental Beat shows where punk would have gone in the '80s if new wave and synthesizers never came along. A slick '80s hit-making producer like Mutt Lange (Def Leppard) or Bob Rock (Mötley Crüe, the Cult) could have made this band huge in the States. The drums sound like they were recorded in another building separate from the rest of the band. Despite a respectable amount of potential on most of the album, poor production limits the effectiveness of many tracks. "Motorvatin'" and "Devil Woman" would easily have found a home on MTV circa 1987, and feminine-looking, lipstick-wearing, glammed-out lead singer Michael Monroe's image would have been plastered all over music television right next to Bret Michaels, Vince Neil, and Jon Bon Jovi. Guitarist and chief songwriter Andy McCoy does his best Johnny Thunders on "Teenangels Outsiders." Other tracks on the album show the band displaying a sound that would be emulated by many future pop-metal bands. Baby" and "Oriental Beat" find the band closely resembling English punk rockers the Damned. The band shows its punk and glam influences not only with its look on the cover of the album but also with the music performed on the album as well. Oriental Beat is full of big singalong choruses and catchy riffs that would have made the band heavy players either five years earlier or later. ![]() Oriental Beat is an album that finds itself slightly out of step with the music scene of the period - it was too late for the prime punk period of the late '70s and it was too early for the pop-metal explosion of the mid-to-late '80s. Oriental Beat finds Hanoi Rocks bringing the glam sound and look of the New York Dolls into the '80s. Hanoi Rocks may have been the best hard rock band Finland had to offer the world in 1982, but their sound and look was heavily influenced by the punk scenes of the late '70s in downtown New York and England. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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