#222
August 1984
Hanoi Rocks
Two Steps from the Move
4 out of 5
Highlights:
Up Around the Bend
Underwater World
Normally I hate when a band opens their record with a cover. To me it signals that they don’t think their own compositions are up to snuff or at least up to that cover’s par. In this case, it’s more like an opening salvo. Hanoi’s cover of Fogerty’s “Up Around the Bend” is a party of glam meets Americana. In a way they make it more American than even CCR, if that makes sense. If it came out in 1974 it would surely be a smash and Hanoi Rocks would be that much closer to their own early Saturday morning kids show or ABC TV Movie. As it is, it’s much better than their cousins Motley Crue’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”.
From there the record takes flight, though. It’s about rawk. It’s glam, man.
Btw, Razzle is the shit, man. Vince Neil took away one of rock’s best in that car accident. This guy could slam the skins.
The promise of Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks come to fruition here. I can only imagine how these guys would have ruled the mid-late 80s.
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