BEAUTIFUL BEAST
Adult Oriented Candy

By Shane Pinnegar

Every day is 1989 in Julian Angel’s world, as evidenced by his Beautiful Beast on this slice of ‘Adult Oriented Candy’.

In this over-PC, super hi-tech decade, it takes someone very, very clever to construct a slab of party metal as gloriously dumbed down as this - from song one Angel is “Runnin’ for his life” and “Gonna pick my baby up in a stolen car” – and through the album he’s “Countin hours waitin for the weekend to arrive”, offering a ‘Ride With the Wild One’, enjoying ‘Tokyo Nights’, having a ‘Juvenile Affair’ and – you get the picture!

Talking of pictures, I can’t imagine THAT cover on the shelves of Walmart any time soon!

It’s heady stuff born of a simpler time, and it wouldn’t work in this day and age without a coupe of essential ingredients…

For starters, the hooks are big enough to catch whales – this is a return to the wild days when bubblegum metal ruled the world!

Second, Angel has a healthy sense of humour and whilst his tongue is firmly in cheek at times, he never crosses the line into parody a la The Darkness or Steel Panther.

No, what we have here, folks, is just an awesome slab of fun, catchy, hard party metal – virtuosic solos, riffs that are always on eleven, aquanet-teased hair piled high above animal print bandanas – the clichés of hair metal/cock rock are displayed proudly as a badge of honour here, not embarrassingly hidden!

‘Do You Want It’ would be floating around the top of the Billboard Charts if this really were 1989, and it’s chanted “Do ya want it, do ya need it, now” chorus brings to mind another great Swedish party metal band – Bai Bang.

Lyrically and musically “Adult Oriented Candy” is everything that rockers of our age are supposed to have long ago moved on from – but still love, and I love this album for it!

Finally, Angel and Co save arguably the best track for last – ‘Singer & Guitarist in a Hair Band’, which charts the wanton desires of the local bad girl – desires that only a rocker can fulfil. It sums up this album well - it’s a bit cheesy, it’s a little clichéd, it’s definitely of another time… and to those who understand, it will be the best thing they’ve heard in a long while!

“Adult Oriented Candy” is my album off the month!