Apocalypse Dudes
Turbonegro
1998
Album Summary
Apocalypse Dudes is the fourth album by the Norwegian band Turbonegro. It is the first studio album with Euroboy as the lead guitarist and the last before the band disbanded in December 1998. Released in early 1998 in Norway and Germany, the album was a huge success for the then underground band. Adapting a more glam rock-oriented sound, Apocalypse Dudes set the standard for future Turbonegro records and became the first part of the Apocalypse trilogy, consisting of Apocalypse Dudes (1998), Scandinavian Leather (2003) and Party Animals (2005).
WikipediaThe riffs are an empty promise, the irony (as suggested by the band name) is notable only by its absense, and there's not even a whiff of groove. I'm guessing they really liked the Ramones. Me too. But (didn't I say this about Fun Lovin Criminals?) that doesn't mean if I make sandwich-board songs with provocative names they'll come out anything like Blitzkrieg Bop. Especially if, like these flat earthers, I totally eschew hooks.
Turbonegro... Am I allowed to say that...? According to the band, it's not at all racially based and instead meant to be like their music; FAST and DARK. Still, with that interpretation, it is not the Norsk death-music that I was expecting, though still less Cardigan and more Hives. Some of it was good... err MOST of it was good... a bit poppy with some surface-deep grit and grime. However, there are some tracks that seem as if they were written for performances on Eurovision. The vocals and mixing was just overproduced enough to ponder the identity they were carrying at the time of recording (... Gothy NSYNC anyone?) Eurovision, may not've been much a stretch, perhaps "Eurovision After Dark" as Turbonegro had stage performances outshined their music and evidently include antics like shooting roman candles out of their asses and playing in blackface in the early 90's. "Get It On" was great as is "Age of Pamparius", but tracks like "Are You Ready" which I suppose is meant to be frightening just plays like the Halloween lawn section at Home Depot. Maybe a little too refined for repeated listening, but there's definitely some stuff here worth saving and even looking forward to in the future.
Some of it was definitely catchy and fun, but throughout the whole album the only vibe I could get through the whole thing was "This is what a group of writers for a Disney Channel sitcom would create as punk music" lol. Gets 3 stars, but only just barely.
It’s a shame that some of these cool rock tracks, guitar riffs, and solos were wasted with vocals and lyrics that a 13 year old would have written better after discovering their first swear words.
Absolutely amazing. Didn't know about this band but I can see myself becoming a huge fan.
This was actually a great album. Goes hard AF and lots of the songs are catchy. Love that the first one, "The Age of Pamarius", is the opening theme for Wildboyz lol. 8/10.
Rock n Roll often comes off as pretentious and trying too hard, or going too hard into substance abuse, but I really felt like these dudes where just having a great time and being slightly goofy, fuck-off fun rock punkers. "Prince of the Rodeo", "Rock Against Ass"
Truthfully should read through the lyrics to really understand whats going on here but this album really rocks for me. It made me immediately miss being at a great rock show. These guys have to be great live. They have some fun pizzaz which seems to tip a hat to the headband rock (is that a real term or something only my friends use?) of yore on the opener and then go into a much more contemporary sound that isn't far off from a lot of the rock I like today. Would listen again, and in fact already started the album from the top.
Fun, kind of brainless (by design) rock 'n' roll. Kind of lost me near the end, but the energy carries it far. My first thought was, "they seem serious about not being serious." Favorite tracks: "Zillion Dollar Sadist", "Prince of the Rodeo", "Selfdestruco Bust"
Good vibes right off the bat. I was expecting something Harder based on the name. oh shit I got chills.
4.5 | No sabía mucho de Turbonegro, hasta ayer los conocía como una banda de punk europeos con un nombre gracioso pero nunca los había escuchado realmente. Resulta que imaginémonos a los Ramones escribiendo canciones de Alice Cooper y producidos por Village People. Que refrescante disco y grupo. Tal cual, está quizá entre los mejores discos de punk que he escuchado. El sonido bien clásico que creería uno de repente que es de 1978, no 1998; sin embargo, luego entran los cambios y las invenciones, un poco de hard rock por acá, algo de glam, tantito metal, distorsión, unos ruidillos.... muy buena producción de verdad sin quitar el núcleo de la música se siente innovador y no cansa. Temáticamente me encantó el concepto del grupo. Representan muchas de las cosas que me agradan de la música, son irreverentes e intencionadamente chocantes sin llegar a sentirse trillados o cliché, en mucho de su humor me recuerdan a un Rammstein menos oscuro y más preocupados con el sexo (sí, al parecer eso es posible). No hay una canción en particular que me sobresalga, pero en verdad se me hizo un disco muy muy sólido, suena a punk clásico evolucionando de los tres acordes base, hay una buena cantidad de solos bastante virtuosos que se sienten intencionadamente colocados en lugares de la canción en que no van. Siento que es como lo que sería una versión de Spinal Tap pero con verdadero talento o un Moderatto que realmente entiende el humor de lo que hace y lo sabe usar de manera original con talento y música propia (o sea… nada como Moderatto). Tienen suficiente originalidad y entendimiento de otros géneros para hacer una entrada elaborada como en Age of Pamparius, con un nombre épico... esperando alguna poética apocalíptica y terminar hablando de una pizzería. Son de esas pocas bandas que tienen la virtud de ser realmente graciosos e inteligentes. Muy interesante hallazgo, en lo personal no llega a calificación perfecta porque, aunque me agradó tanto, necesito estar de humor particular para querer escuchar punk.
I think I had one turbonegro song on a Kerrang sampler one time - "No! I'm Alpha Male!" Thought it was weird, but cool! Honestly feel the same about this album. Feels like a cool Rocky-punk that clearly has some of than scandinavian metal influence in its darkness at times. Maybe a 4 or 4.5 in actuality, but I'm happy to have something new for my rotation - five stars! || Name felt weird coming from a Norwegian group, and I'm still not 100% sold on it, even with stated anti-racist beliefs and looking to call out racism in Nroway and Scandinavia. Maybe if they decide to change it they could go back to their other original name idea "Nazipenis"
First off, I love the album name. Second, this is right up my alley. Very punkish and fun. I liked this.
I absolutely love this album. It's this perfect mix of jackass style jokes (didn't hurt they were on the soundtrack to half of it), genuinely cool hard rock a la Motorhead, and peppered with guitar solos. It also makes me rub my fucking nipples with glee when I read reviews for metal/punk/whatever albums on here, and so many people have written that they didn't finish the album. "Ugh, too loud!" hahaha, fuck you. This is a legit 5/5 without even thinking.
I needed this today. Where has this been all my life? Norwegian Death Punk. I kind of guessed what I was getting into with song titles like "Rendezvous with Anus," "Good Head,", "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker," and "Rock Against Ass." But I had no idea of the quality and intensity. Definitely falls in the punk category but there are hard rock aspects and rarely do you hear a lead guitar in punk as good as this. You hear all sorts of influences: Stooges, Ramones, Black Flag, Butthole Surfers, Monster Magnet (contemporaries at the time) and even Van Halen. But, their sound is unique. No bad songs or fillers on this; some may disagree. A song highlight was "Prince of the Rodeo" which sounds like Van Halen on Crack. Well, OK, more Crack. Fantastic.
Mind Blown. L'un des albums les plus intéressants depuis longtemps. Le mélange de punk, hard rock, heavy metal est très bien fait, les compositions sont solides et les leads de guitare sont incroyable.
Whatever numbnut categorized this as "glam rock" needs to have their hearing checked or their critic card revoked. This is punk. It sits comfortably on the same part of the spectrum as The Clash and The Ramones even though it's decades younger. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe that's because my expectations were so low given the glam label or maybe it's just because I'm a punk kid who just gets off on guitars distorted to sandpaper roughness. Either way, this was a total joy ride for me and I'm here for it all day.
didn't know what to expect from the first track, this album was an unexpectedly **fun** listen, bowie cover of suffragette city is great
I liked it more than I thought I would. A few songs I'd come back to, but I would definitely give the whole album another listen.
Good shit, truly. I didn't know what to expect but the first few songs really hit. They have a good punk vibe but really non-punk lyrics and melodies.
3.5| Punkcito acido e irreverente muy chingón, me gusta esa mezcla que hacen con diferentes géneros, no los había escuchado y ya hasta me voy a hacer mi playera del disco
Este disco tiene una vibra entre Sex Pistols y The Offspring. Muy agradable de escuchar. Me gustó la canción “Prince of the Rodeo”. Le daría 3.5 estrellas, pero subo a 4 porque sí lo volvería a escuchar para manejar en carretera.
Wild Boyz theme song is on here This album is super fun and high energy - need to come back to this for running/workout playlists.
Highlights: Age of Pamparius, SelfDestructo Bust, Probably, Zillion Dollar Sadist, Are You Ready, Prince of the Rodeo On the surface, you'd think TN is just vulgar, trashy, rude, offensive shock-rock or garage punk...If not for the well-crafted licks, aggressive progressions, and the exquisite execution of every track here. The lyrics are silly, and they don't even matter, they're just a distraction. It'd be a shame to miss out just because the track listing contains words. like "mfer" and "anus", because every track on Apocalypse Dudes is worthy of your attention.
Biggest disappointment was that this was the first time I’ve ever heard this album - I like it! Certainly hear the influences of Black Flag and the Ramones. Good hard rock with some interesting/ridiculous lyrics. I’ll listen again.
Enjoyable but not something I would likely seek out. Sounds like something Tom would put on and I would be pleasantly surprised by liking. Slightly disappointed when I learned it was "Selfdestructo Bust" not "Selfdestructo Bus" and a song about the movie Speed
Stevig album! Hier heb ik toch af en toe op zitten headbangen. Niet super, maar een verdiende 4/5
A really slammin' glam metal album! Turbonegro wears their influences on their sleeves in this one, which I appreciate.
Wall of sound punk rock with meedly meedly guitar solos! What's not to like? Good mosh pit music. I will say that I felt like I had enough by about 5 or 6 songs in and started skipping around looking for something more interesting.
Super interesting album. This self-named genre Deathpunk is way more thought out that than the punk label would suggest. The arrangement is complex and is able to keep the listeners attention through over 40 minutes of music. The lyrics and the name of the band are transgressive, but again, very interesting.
A really good album with a terrific sound and a lot of metal feels to it. I’ll definitely listen to this again.
Now this is a fun album, I was pleasantly surprised! Offspring meets Bowie on the stage with the Ramones? Giving it a 4 after several listens, but given age I might consider a 5!
It’s very good. Like you took David Bowie, iggy pop, the ramones, black flag, and the whole glam/punk sound and put it in a Norwegian blender. Pretty sweet
Fun album. I discovered this band because of Wildboyz (Jackass spin-off) and never expected them to be on this list.
p823. 1998. 4 stars Came cold to this, knew nothing about the band or their music. Pleasantly surprised. Vaguely pretentious hybrid of punk and glam rock with ridiculous song titles, but doesn't take itself too seriously. All sorts of echoes in here - Ramones, The Who, Queen, Oasis. I liked this more than I was expecting to :)
This was incredible. Never heard of them before but they have everything - cool riffs, high energy, driving beats, catchy tunes, funny lyrics. I bet this would be a great live show. Really makes it worth it when I get a album like this from this list.
Okei, oli aikanaan kovaa menoa (kiitos Elias tutkimukseksesta), mutta nyt on vaan hauska hiphop-levy. Saundit toisinaan vähän dänkkejä, mut hyvällä tavalla. Kuuntelin eilen kävelyllä ja sai kyllä asennetta askeleeseen. Kaiken kaikkiaan 4/5
Noni vittu huh huh! Kaasu pohjaan ja täysillä seinään tai jotain. Aivan älytön skandinaavirokkipläjäys! Hank Von Helvetehän kuoli viimevuoden lopulla joten muisteleminen on syytä aloittaa viimeistään nyt. Onhan tää törkee levy! Ai että! Taitaa olla koko yhtyeen paras tuotos. Miten täältä generaattorista nyt koko ajan tulee omia suosikkilevyjä? 4/5
Haha, dit is voor mij wel een klassieker. Dit album is wel hun beste, live is het een groot spektakel maar voor mij toch echt iets teveel over de top. Niet zozeer muzikaal maar met de schmink en de spijkerjassen en de "Jugend".
High energy rock & roll with occasionally ridiculous lyrics. It was fun, I enjoyed listening to it, but I probably won't listen to it again. I'm rounding this up to 4 stars because Turbonegro is a surprisingly influential and popular band for some reason.
Never heard of this band, but it was fun! The lyrics are not the best, but the music is rocking and it sounds like they are having fun with it and not taking it too seriously. Production sounds great too.
D'abord absolument scandalisé par le racisme décomplexé des Turbo n-word, j'ai fini par me laisser convaincre et à me prendre au jeu. Les atrocités xénophobes déblatérées tout au long de l'album ne m'ont rapidement plus dérangées, et ont même réussi à alterer ma vision d'une société idéale, originalement basée sur la solidarité et l'acceptation de l'autre. Un grand bravo messieurs.
Avec Apocalypse Dude, le groupe Turbo-n-word franchit très largement les frontières du politiquement correct mais retombe sur ses pattes grâce à une magnifique débauche d'énergie. L'album est une réussite.
Turbonegro was a stand out album for me for me. I had never heard of them and don't listen to punk or metal much but their brand of deathpunk I found ridiculously engaging and made me want to jump around and drive fast. In fairness, i listened to most of it while on the highway. But then reading about them, socially, so peculiar. First the bad, definitely racist. I know they say they are anti racist but I've always found the "we're sarcastically racist" argument as convincing as punching someone in the face and saying you were just being sarcastic to point out how dumb violence is - it's just not helpful. But the super homoerotic faux gay thing was fascinating. On the one hand, faux gay by presumably heterosexual people is in itself homophobic and appropriating. On the other hand, bringing loud and proud gay themes, lyrics and behaviors, even in a caricature way, into a super homophobic music scene worked at getting men in that scene to explore the idea that maybe gayness is cool and fine and acceptable. So, unlike the racism thing, it does seem they managed to use homophobia to counter homophobia and make several arguments against homophobia . So, it seem the net effect might actually be less homophobia in a homophobic sphere? Who knows. Anyway, super catchy, energetic, and original music. Not sure I'll listen again, still not my style, and the second half of the album lost steam, but I'll still give a 4 for the boldness, technique, and execution. And one of them actually owns a pizza shop they sing about. That helps too.
Intro molto molto moooolto bella. Partito bene, ma si perde un po' Bella anche la chiusura, tra il 3 e il 4.
What happens when you knowingly throw every hard rock, glam metal and punk cliché into an an infectiously catchy cocktail of hooks and riffs, with absurd English as a second language lyrics, by Norway’s finest faux gay rockers. ‘Apocalypse Dudes’ is gloriously ridiculous, super enjoyable and a shit load of fun, but it’s also a clever record, and more than just mere homage. These guy really rock.
I do not know how to properly say this, but let's be frank: They are a punk act who knows what the fuck they are doing with this name. While I really enjoyed the album, the tone-deaf name (yes, I understand it was the past, but I know they haven't changed their name, so fuck off If you feel you need to defend it) and maybe a hair of bloat do bring it down to a 4.
As I said in chat... if I could make music it would sound like this. 4 stars for Norway's finest cultural export.
This was much better than I expected! I was expecting something darker and gothy, but it was hard hitting, punky and fun! Kind of a 70's hard rock Norwegian "Dictators" sound/vibe with a touch of glam. I quite enjoyed it!
Put this album on to ROCK. THE. FUCK. OUT!! It's high octane, head-banging, air guitar-ing goodness all around. Musically, it's powerful, pulse pumping stuff but lyrically there's this very self-deprecating and tongue in cheek underbelly to the seemingly raw and unapologetic cock rock veneer. I love that about it, these guys send up the egotistical self-absorbed rock star character so well. But most importantly of all, it's just so fucking FUN!
If you are looking for raw, dirty, sleazy, filthy, sticky, hard rock... you really can't get much better than this
This album was a lot more rocking than I thought it would be. I was pretty discouraged by it upon initially looking in to what it was when I saw it pop up, but I had a great time listening to it. It's out of my usual wheelhouse so there isn't a ton to say about it for me.
Tämä on niitä levyjä, joita kuunnellessa tulee hetken ajatelleeksi, että melkein kaikki muu musiikki on naurettavaa näpertelyä. "Selfdestructo bust" ja "Are you ready for some darkness" ovat mestariteoksia, ja biisimateriaali on muutenkin vahvaa. Soolokitaristin soitto kuulostaa siltä, kuin nuoruuden lämpibändeiltä omaksutut hard rock-kuviot purkautuisivat kaikki yhdellä kertaa pihalle. Ja koska laulajan ääni tuo kokonaisuuteen liikuttavuutta, hyvä vire kantaa myös täytekappaleiden läpi. Ei vitonen, mutta todella hyvä, kulutusta kestävä levy.
Never heard of this before, and didn’t read anything about it before listening. This was a bit of a surprise… the opening song about baking a motherfucking pizza tonight? With catchy music like this oh yeah… I have a motherfucking pizza! The rest of the album did not disappoint. Rodeos, sadism, monkeys, humiliation. Loads of anal references. Talented, highly entertaining and fun!
Un disco divertido, con buena música, letras entretenidas y con una acidez contra todo lo bien portado y correcto que hoy de hecho hace falta. No le pongo más porque, aunque me gustaron, tampoco creo que lleguen a un nivel artístico impresionante y creo que su razón para estar en la lista es únicamente por el lado de lo políticamente incorrecto que lograron hacer.
Ofta jag dissade Turbonegro som tonåring? Prolly bara för att alla andra älskade dom, hispter4life 😅 Men jaa det e najs faktiskt!
Guitar-based heavy rock. Never heard of them before, probably would have loved it back in the nineties, bit much for me now (I guess Im getting old)
One of those albums where if you’ve heard one song you’ve pretty much heard them all. Not too bad, just kinda bland. Favorite track: “The Age of Pamparius”
Can’t tell if this band is a boner tug or what? Pretty good music most the time, but not anything I’d listen to often
Definitely grew on me the more I listened. I enjoyed this quite a bit and ended up checking out some of their other big hits. Some really good solid rocking, and quite frankly who doesnt enjoy good head
Orginalna nazwa bandy jak przystalo na bande punkowa z norewgii, turbo czarnuchy i ich ziomale apokalipsy, cale szczescie wycie zostalo nagrane po angielsku, a wykonawca wokali jest ich frontmen znany takze jako euroboy, album brzmi jak prawdziwy punkowy underground, wiec motywy przewodnie musza byc punkowe, juz same nazwy swietnie oddaja o czym beda kawalki, rock against ass, zillion dolar sadist, randezvous with anus, dont say motherfucker, motherfucker, ale material to nie sama przemoc i sex, znalazlo sie takze miejsce na barwne wulgaryzmy przy jamowanych riffach gitarkowych, caly albumik to jeden wielki jamik, dwa ostatnie tracki to bonusy z live wystepu w tym jeden jest coverem suffragette city Bowiego, majac porownanie live z studyjnym materialem widac dobrom robote w przeniesieniu tej energii i klimatu na krazek, a to nie zawsze sie udaje w punkowym graniu, na plejke wrzucilem chyba najbardziej wyszukana kompozycje albumiku, trak otwierajacy the age of pamparius, ktory robi za dobre intro dla zespolu, oraz monkey on your back
I'd only heard 'Ass Cobra' before. I prefer this. It's a bit less comedic, shouty and screamy and a bit more tunefull. First half is fun rock and more melodic than the punkier second half. Opener, 'the Age of Pamparious' even has an acoustic guitar and is my fave on here. Pretty good, but not worthy of an erection. 3/5
"You got nothing to lose at Pamparius Gonna bake a motherfucking pizza tonight" (The age of Pamparius) El mejor complemento para el día que tus vecinos están tirando todas las paredes de su piso.
This was pretty good punk rock (not sure how it can be called “death metal”). I’m not quite to wanting to recommend it to anyone though.
Finally some good fucking music Little evil, racist Scandinavians Just no bollocks hard rock
Punk rock nórdico. Not my style pero no suenan nada mal, rollito greenday en algunos temas.
Some good tracks on this one. Very tight playing -- impressive! More harsh on my ears than music I typically enjoy, but still good work.
Surprisingly good. Some CIV and Pennywise vibes, very heavy on lead guitar/solos. Guitars were kinda 80s metal sounding at times, and 2000s garage at other times. Excellent Bowie cover to end the album. Very close to a 4 star.
It's good, but not really my thing. It also sounds a lot like other hard rock albums that came before it. I can appreciate it though.
Fun record with punk lyrics and heavy metal drive. There’s something to be said about these tasty licks, fun on a first listen but wouldn’t warrant me back for multiple listens. Feels like a great skateboarding weekend adventure music and I could see album being a staple in a lot of peoples collections. Overall: Fun, goofy, punk. 3 stars.
Melodic, driving punk with sick guitar riffs and goofy-ass lyrics. My only prior exposure to this band was Queens Of The Stone Age’s cover of “Back To Dungaree High,” and I’m really not surprised Josh is a fan.
Not as bad as first anticipated - in fact - a lot of it is really quite good. Enjoyed reading up on the band, enjoyed the album - the epitome of "not my cup of tea" so a welcome diversion from my normal tunes.
Seemed like pretty standard rock-oriented punk, reminiscent of Bad Religion to me, differentiated mainly by the pretty adolescent dedication to profanity. I didn't dislike it.
Had some good stand out tracks that reminded me of early 2000s kerrange. Most was just forgettable though
This is weird. It's much more punk than I like, but something about it still makes me want to keep listening.
Contrary to what the WIKI article suggests, I wouldn't say Turbonegro shed their punk sensibilities, for an all-out glam rock style. The opening track "The Age of Pamparius" defintely gives you the impression you're in for a glam-rock adventure, flying on the back of a flaming guitar, but that gives way to well worn punk standards, just a song later. Moreover, track titles like "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker", "Redezvous With Anus" and "Good Head" make it pretty clean the group isn't taking themselves too seriously. In general, the album is fairly middle of the road punk, but with a longer format (more songs are longer than 3m, than aren't). I think they would've been better served by keeping each song tight and fast (giggity). I enjoyed the straight forward energy of the album, but the sophmoric lyrical subject matter was a detractor for me. I can get behind an appropriately depraved song (I'm thinking GWAR of Tenacious D), but this just felt pointless/aimless. I am still intrigued to hear more from the band. A quick glance at their top tracks on Spotify gives me the impression they've remained pretty superficial. We'll see if they grow on me over time.
Ramones meets AC/DC but with some silly lyrics. Good rockin fun thought with some good riffs.
This started really well! Dramatically tails off though as it’s all a little bit too samey! By the end you’re glad it’s done, despite a fun enough cover of Bowie’s Suffragette City. Glad to finish it and wouldn’t rush back.
Alkoi kivasti ja lopussa kans iskevää menoa. Mut ehkä jotain potkua ja variaatiota jäi välillä kaipaamaan. Sinänsä kyl taas toimivaa ysärirockia, sitä tuntuu riittävän.
Ihan hyvää energiaa riffeissä, mutta en kyllä millään pääse yli lyriikoista ja punk-huudoista.
Esto fue como escuchar a fans de Duff McKagan y del disco Spaghetti Incident. Estuvo bien.
While it had some fun moments, I wasn't really impressed. It's poppy, but not in a good way. I like pop punk, but this just felt safe and middle of the road and like they didn't really fully want to commit to anything. I didn't mind listening to it, but it's just boring and didn't hold my attention much.
Pretty good for about 10 minutes but then it gets just very samey. I lost interest. The band name is also super cringe.
OK, if you were fighting with your sister, this would be the perfect gift to buy for your nephew’s 13th birthday, because he’d love all the cussing and teenage sarcasm and sexual innuendo, you’d be the cool uncle, and it would piss your sister off every time she heard him play it. Don’t expect much singing here, but do prepare yourself for plenty of good ol’ punk yelping. And, after a while, Hank von Helvete’s vocals will begin to become a little infectious, not unlike a mosquito bite. The rhythm section’s competent, and playing loose. Sloppy good, I would call it, like a chili dog. When they were at their best, on ‘Prince of the Rodeo,’ or ‘Humiliation Street,’ they were an intriguing little rock ‘n roll band. Lead guitarist, Euroboy, in particular, is the one leading this charge, all Joe Perry DNA and arena rock circa 1970s chops. The band establishes a nice percussion groove and good guitar hook in the middle of ‘Prince of the Rodeo.’ Euroboy also did some nasty ending guitar work on ‘Humiliation Street.’ Unfortunately, most of the album was pretty monotonous. Little in the way of arrangements or dynamics or tempo changes. Just aim that steering wheel straight ahead and step on the gas. Similar with the lyrics. Stuff you would expect from a young punk/glam band, inside jokes and coded lingo, double entendre galore: ‘Jerk that calf, half n’ half, I’m back in the saddle, the world’s most progressive cowboy.’ – ‘Prince of the Rodeo. You can imagine the rest, just from a random mention of their titles: ‘Rock Against Ass,’ ‘Rendevous with Anus,’ ‘Good Head,’ which features a minute and a half clichéd extended ending (I think on purpose for sarcasm’s sake) that closed every stadium rock concert you ever attended back in the day. Finally, and I’ve not yet puzzled this one out, there are an awful lot of references to ‘denim.’ These fellas are from Norway, by the way. Denim, huh? Turbonegro's 'Apocalypse Dudes' wasn’t the best nor the worst I’ve heard in a while. They did manage to get their own unique thing going on. I’m just not sure where it was bound, if anywhere. Maybe the nearest Levi’s outlet?
Meat and spuds music this. It had its place in the pantheons of music, but just doesn’t ring my particular bells. A review with innuendo for an album with plenty of innuendo!
This definitely rocked, but not in any especially inventive or creative way. Fun but not earth shattering.
Pretty decent punk. Not enough here to make me want to come back to it but I'm not sad I heard the album
Like a more aggressive Offspring. It was alright but I wouldn’t go out of my to listen to it.
Listened to on 8/1/22 2.5/5 Favorite song: The Age of Pamparius When I first saw this album I thought I was going to hate it but it was actually not that bad!The songs were chaotic but surprisingly good especially for something titled Rock Against Ass and Rendezvous with Anus
Norwegian Death Punk.....what a unexpected genre to see come up. It was actually a pretty good album and I was pleasantly surprised.
Without much context, and a quick perusal of the song list, the band has a thing for... things. Musically, they are a bit of a combination of rock and punk with solid melodies accompanying punk-style vocal delivery. Honestly it is a bit of a surprise how objectively enjoyable the first listen is. Norway is known for a lot of things, but a band like Turbonegro was not the first thing on that list. "Prince of the Rodeo" is high energy, pure fun, with great resolve as any good rock song should have. Their sound is such that they are musically forward, with lyrics and vocals seeming to run a tad out of focus. Where the punk element really is on display, is where the songs seem to break in between melodies with an aggressive chorus that compels a listener to take up a stance of some kind, it does not matter what it is. "Humiliation Street" might be an under-estimated song on this album. This is a rock song very much in the vein of the late 90s, reminiscent of Alice in Chains. However, what makes the song particularly noticeable is that it is a slowed down offering for an album that until then had been very much including punk energy. This song however, is completely rock and while a bit lengthy, a great listen, showcasing Turbonegro's strong instrumental skills.
Good album I’d probably have to listen to a lil more carefully to have more to say about.
Its a send up of a lot of classic rock sounds from the late 70s and early 80s. The hard rock sounds are somehow nostalgic and new. While i think it goes hard, I havent found something to really latch onto. I am also not a huge fan of the singers voice with this sound.
mikäs tässä kun kaahataan eteenpäin. onnistuneita hittejä väleissä, hyviä sanoituskoukkuja. ei vakavaa
Could go my whole life without needing to listen to this. The name Rock against Ass for one of their songs made me wanna give 3 but I just couldn’t
Woah. Obviously very sick guitar, but pretty average, off lyrics. Can't really tell if they are taking the piss, but not my thing either way... Suffregate city - band hero 🎸 though
Let me firstly say that the sound on this album is f@cking huge! It’s in your face balls to the wall rock and it’s coming for you & and your family. All the tracks here could be described as comparable to early Offspring only more refined. So if that’s your thing you’ll love this album. Just try and ignore the nonsensical lyrics, let your hair down and get your mosh on... 2 Stars!
There was a time when I would have been well into this and lapped it up. Maybe I’m being a bit too quick to brush over it as the same old emo-punk that I’ve heard a zillion times before. But that’s what I’m gonna do and if I wanna listen to some emo I’ll sniff around elsewhere. Out the back by the bins...I think there’s an old blink 182 greatest hits out there. I’ll stick that on if I have to.
Would make for a fun concert or garage band jam session. Sound quality, sophomoric lyrics and repetitive woahs wore on me.
“Initially, the band had two running ideas for band names: Nazipenis and Turbonegro. They were advised that a band named Nazipenis would never sell records, so they chose Turbonegro as a more consumer-friendly choice.”
When I saw this album was published by Scandinavian Leather Recordings and the cover art, I immediately assumed this was going to be a Finnish death metal band. Why? Well, I’ve spent some time in the Finnish southwestern archipelago, riding speed boats, refusing nude sauna hang outs (a prude…I know), and detonating explosives at 10:45 pm in the most beautiful twilight (legal I assure you). And let me tell you, the Finnish people love death metal. In fact, Finland has the highest number of death metal bands per capita of any country. They love death metal so much that they got a bunch of my mates in to it. When the Finns would visit us, my mates got back stage access to some touring death metal bands, including the after parties too. It was a whole scene apparently. Anyway, Turbonegro is Norwegian and not Finnish. This album is a borderline-ish rating for me, but ultimately falls short of 3 stars. At least it wasn’t death metal, which I really don’t care for.
While there is some decent music here, the vocals are way sub-par. A couple of the tracks work all right for me - Prince of the Rodeo is a highlight - and the camp factor is high. But all in all, it's a pass.
Apparently this band almost called themselves "Nazipenis". I wish this music was provocative, but this is just pretty lame glam rock
2.4 - Norwegian kids got psyched about some Warrant and Slaughter music videos and decided to emulate the sound and look. They read every music magazine interview, dutifully practiced their instruments, got rock haircuts, learned to curse like Americans. They almost perfectly emulate the sound of the LA hard rock scene but they’re definitely trying too hard. Too much gratuitous swearing (“Don’t Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker”) and some strange moments where I wonder if lyrics got lost in translation (“Rock Against Ass”). A few screaming guitar solos can’t redeem the endeavor since the record sounds like it was mixed by a chimp. Extra points deducted for terrible band name. Derivative and pointless.