Great Metal Albums of 1982: Hanoi Rocks- Self Destruction Blues
First of all, no one spotted the mistake in my last post. Boppinsblog came close as he pointed out that “Live At Budokan” was a Cheap Trick album, so one 80smetalman gold star awarded there. But that wasn’t the mistake I was referring to. Boppinsblog was close though because the mistake had to do with the quote from Wayne’s World. See, the quote I used on the last post was from Wayne’s World 1 while the photo below it was from Wayne’s World 2. I’m afraid that no one gets the grand prize this time.
Now onto the second album in 1982 from Finnish glam metallers, Hanoi Rocks. When I visited the predecessor, “Oriental Beat,” I commented on what a great feel good, party album it was and I stick by that. I won’t be so flowery about the second album, “Self Destruction Blues.” The album just simply bloody rocks!
Just about every track on this album is an absolute corker and one thing that it has in common with its predecessor is that each songs seems to improve as the album progresses. Except for maybe “Whispers in the Dark,” that’s not quite as good as the others. However, putting it first wouldn’t be a good idea because “Love’s an Injection” is such a great opener. If you think that “Problem Child” was a cover of the AC/DC classic, it is nothing of the sort. It’s still a cool song.
What I find about most of the songs on this album is that the titles of the songs hardly appear in their song. “Desperado,” my favourite track, is only sung once. If I didn’t have the title in front of me, I would have thought it was called “Ten Thousand Heartaches.” Nevertheless, the song is just brilliant so full marks to the band for that little twist. The same can be said for such other cool tracks like “Beer and a Cigarette” and “Kill City Kills.” Again both are great tracks. The title track is actually done in a blues fashion and it’s good to hear Michael Monroe’s voice stretching out a bit. Full marks to the band again. The closer, “Dead by Xmas,” in my mind is a case of Bon Jovi meets The Clash. I mean the piano sounds very similar to that on the first Bon Jovi single “Runaway.” Then when the song kicks in, it sounds very much like The Clash but it’s well done. In fact, I think the humour that went into the album, along with some fine songs, make “Self Destruction Blues” a fantastic album.
Track Listing:
- Love’s an Injection
- I Want You
- Cafe Avenue
- Nothing New
- Kill City Kills
- Self Destruction Blues
- Beer and a Cigarette
- Whispers in the Dark
- Taxi Driver
- Desperado
- Problem Child
- Dead by Xmas
Michael Monroe- lead vocals
Andy McCoy- guitar
Nasty Suicide- guitar
Sam Yaffa- bass
Gyp Casino- drums
After the recording of the album, Gyp Casino would leave the band and be replaced by Razzle
Another fun hard rocking album from Hanoi Rocks in 1982. Had I been more aware of this band in the year, I would have concluded that Finland must be a place to rock because albums like this one certainly give that impression.
Next Post: Saxon- The Eagle Has Landed
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This entry was posted on October 14, 2015 at 8:17 pm and is filed under 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags AC/DC, At Budokan, Blues, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Classic Rock, Finland, glam rock, Hanoi Rocks, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Oriental Beat, Self Destruction Blues, The 1980s, The Clash, Wayne's World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
2 Responses to “Great Metal Albums of 1982: Hanoi Rocks- Self Destruction Blues”
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October 15, 2015 at 7:43 pm
A band I really want to spend more time with.
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October 16, 2015 at 7:21 am
It will definitely be worth your time.
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