In Full disclosure I bought their debut album which to this day is still one of my favorites. I followed their career and have always liked them because they’re quirky and different but in a good way. They never fit the mold of a heavy metal hair band because that’s not what they do even though they came out at the height of that.
The newest record Xtra Cherries just expands on their catalog. I’ll come right out and say it I really like this record. It’s filled with great harmonies, melodies, and hooks. Everything that I would expect from this band. The tracks that stand out to me that are highlights right now are as follows, ”No Cold Feeling”, “You Make Me Wanna Lie”, “Zillion Miles Away” and “Shine”. I also really like the opening track, “Heartbeat” which is a song to their fans. I love when artists write songs like this but I think that opening the album with this song was a mistake. “No Cold Feeling” Should have been the opener and “Heartbeat” mixed in later.
The one thing that I don’t like about this record is their cover of The Rolling Stones classic “Star Star”. The reason I say that is I’ve always felt that there are certain bands and songs you just don’t mess with, and this is one of them. It’s also the opposite of everything this man sings about. The only artist to ever cover this song and do almost as good of a job as The Rolling Stones, is Joan Jett’s version on her third album titled “Album”. Don’t get me wrong I’m not against covers but this is a poor version of it that should have never been recorded. If the band came to me and said we want to do a cover, what would you do? I would pick something for them out of Cheap Tricks catalog that’s not overly popular like “Carnival Game”. Or even the Tears for Fears song, ”Sowing the Seeds of Love”. Either of those would suit the band’s style and message a lot better.
The artwork is great it includes liner notes and photos of the band. I really believe in getting back to the basics as vinyl has become more popular again. Listening to the music, while reading the lyrics and all the other information about the artist to me is something that has been lost over the years.
If you like 70s sounding pop music with a modern feel that has great lyrics, melody, and hooks, this is an album you should pick up. It’s a fun lesson and I will be adding several of these songs to my regular playlists.
