RECKLESS LOVE
RECKLESS LOVE

Every so often you get something right out of nowhere that puts a huge cheesy grin on your face. When I popped the cork on this bottle of fizz I had no idea who Reckless Love was or anything about them and boy was I surprised.

Straight out of the bottle these guys hit you with a masterful slab of early Van Halen Rock and Roll. That’s before they decide to trump that with some gloriously ramshackle Glam Rock sing-alongs with giant choruses and precariously balanced lyrics; which depending on where you sit may fall on the side of genius or madness.

One thing you cannot deny is that this album is just so much fun. It positively reeks of summer, being young and having fun! We’re full speed on the way to a rock and roll party with the girls along for the ride in the back of our trusty rusty love machine!

And it is an entertaining ride at that, as we move as from proto-Van Halen, through early Poison or Tigertailz. Along the way there’s a smattering of Wrathchild (UK) and large pinch of Danger Danger at their melodic best; before we start a trek through a world inhabited by the likes of Wig Wam, The Poodles and even The Darkness.

Quite simply I love this album, and after not being able to bring myself to release it from the car stereo today I just had to find out a little about these guys. Though I was pretty much hampered by a lack of even the most basic Finnish all I had to go on was the intentionally (?) dodgy bios on their website and the fact that I recognised Olli as the guy who briefly sang for Crashdiet after Dave Lepard sadly passed. I’m sure I’ll manage to fill in a few gaps if they agree to speak to theRockpit.net! (Requests have been dispatched!). Not that it matters too much just take the album as you find it and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.

From the first Dave-like scream and summer sugar sweet fizz of the Halen-like opener “Feel My Heat” it’s a bit of a rocket ride through some storming glammed-up sounds. The rawer stuff seems to work best of all so check out the first five tracks in particular, before the guys start to apply the sheen of say a ‘Wig Wam’ (not that they don’t do that particularly well). It’s just that the start of the album is a bit more technicolour.

“One More Time” makes you want to get I the car and put the top down, cruise the highway: it’s pure glam from when it was all still fun and life was uncomplicated. And the chorus is the big fat cherry on the top of the cherry pie! “Badass” rocks along nicely, but is a little more traditional fare; whilst “Love Machine” is the crazy bastard son of Def Leppard having way too much fun and far too much make-up!. It’s one of a few totally infectious songs here and it’s either this or maybe ‘Beautiful Bomb’ that take the best chorus honours (“Beautiful, Beautiful Bomb made of Dynamite! Such a Beautiful Bomb Gonna Blow Me Away Tonite!”). Hey I never said this was prog-rock!

Elsewhere ‘Back to Paradise’ could be the best disco rock song since Kiss’ “I Was Made for Loving You” and “Born to Rock” well, umm rocks, in a sort of Darkness meets Montrose way. In truth there’s no filler though it’s either great or better throughout.

Grab a copy of this and head in search of summer…

Mark