Back to Mystery City

Not my genre, not well done and not enjoyable. Vapid pop rock that is more dated than carbon.

nothing spectacular here. Pretty standard metal/glam rock. Nothing that makes me want to play it again. Not that it was a difficult listen, but just nothing to make me say, yes, let's play that again

W sumie całkiem nieźle. Nie więcej niż 3, ale takie mocne 3.

Neurobilo to na mňa dojem. Za snahu a že je to aspoň raz vypočuteľné... 2

This sounds better through speakers.

Начало чистый панк, потом вроде разыгрываются и ничего.

Just a fun album to listen through. Solid 4 Stars.

I’m at a 5. I genuinely don’t hear the 2.7 on the site at all. I thought this was really well done glam rock, and looking into these guys, it seems like their tree of influence spreads pretty far. If you like Guns n’ Roses, you should thank these guys; Slash & Axl Rose & others have cited them as an inspiration & went so far as to rerelease Hanoi Rocks’ albums in the U.S. under their own label. This is THE prototype hair metal album, and if it’s the flashpoint for the whole genre, down to the looks on the cover, it’s a pretty damn good base. The guitar work is great, Razzle’s drumming is manic & anchors the whole album and Michael Monroe’s vocals sound pretty clean to me. He’s a little warbly & try-hard at times, but in an endearing way that doesn’t take away from the tracks for me. Lyrically, I can understand being kind of a hater, especially with “Lick Summer Love” lacking any pretense & “Back to Mystery City” being awkward as hell under a certain interpretation, but most of the album is pretty straightforward stuff. If anything, it feels more like an early ‘80s glam rock take on the doowop stuff of the ‘50s & ‘60s at times, most notably on “Beating Gets Faster”. It’s a bit cheesy at times, especially on some of the more ballad-y things, but everything moves at a pretty precise pace that just feels entertaining to listen to. Ultimately, I think it’s a pretty easy 5; you can say it’s the same-ish track for 44 minutes & I wouldn’t necessarily disagree, but you can’t tell me in good faith that this isn’t a fun listen if you’re already a fan of this style. Even if you’re not, there’s an energy to it that should easily win people over unless you hate having fun. The only argument I can see for a lower rating is that this isn’t an essential album to listen to before you die, and maybe there’s a case for that, but given the Guns n’ Roses connection, I just can’t imagine throwing it away from a historical perspective. I genuinely think it’s a great album, and an easy 5 for me. It should be on the list, and people should hopefully rate this higher down the line.

I hadn't heard that in a long time till today. We used to listen to Hanoi Rocks quite a lot. Fun memories.

This Glam Rock album feels like stepping into a loud, slightly chaotic 1980s nightlife scene, where everyone is dressed to impress and determined to have a good time. Hanoi Rocks mix glam-rock swagger with punkish energy, catchy riffs and occasional musical surprises. There is a playful, almost reckless spirit to the performances, but the record also leans heavily on familiar rock-and-roll formulas. It has enough character to keep things moving, though not every moment leaves a lasting impression. Had to go trough YouTube to listen to the album as Deezer can offer only two of the songs.

Fairly mediocre 80s pop rock. It's not the worst, but it's not particularly interesting. Some decent guitar. "Ice Cream Summer" might be the best track.

Some of the lyrics are a little cheesy, but the music is fun. Some of their stuff sounds more like some punk, like The Clash, than it does hair bands.

it's weirder and more interesting than I expected but also inessential, this is more of a curiosity than part of a curated list of 1,001 vital albums. Felt bad giving this a two before I listened to Lick Summer Love or that weird Mony Mony pastiche at the end. (god, what an awful song)

All in all, some good fun

Such a lovely surprise with this album! It was fun, it rocked, and overall had a great sound to it! It was surprisingly good. 4/5⭐️ 304/1089

Glammy hard rock. Good, not great and much better than anything this influenced.

Exactly the kind if album people are talking about when they slate 80s music.

What in the peroxideperm-hell is this album doing on this list?

Kind of surprised at the apparent hate this one has garnered among the listeners of this list. Is this one going to open your experience to an entire musical experience? Nah, prolly not. Is it fun rock with some great hooks and composition? Hell yes it is. Lighten up and give this one a spin, let that smile creep across your face and enjoy.

A descent glam rock album. A fun listen, but I doubt I'd listen again.

I think for those who were in high school in the early 80s and were in the whole hard rock scene at the time, you love Hanoi Rocks. Everyone after that, know the band as that guy who got killed in the car accident with Vince Neil and that's kind of where the story ends. I was a latter 80s kid, so I only know the stories. This is a band that is kind of lost to time. When I heard about the band in the late 80s, they did nothing for me then, and still don't do much but its not awful. On this crrent listen, I feel like if this album came out 10 years earlier. They would have been superstars in the Glam era.

Y'all can just bounce all the way off with this album. There are some albums on this list that upon listening I think to myself "WOW how on Earth have I never heard of this band before??? This should be everywhere". But then, there are albums where I'm like "I understand why I've never heard this before". This is the latter. Pseudo hair metal, singers with 'tude. No doubt that they loooove groupies. Just not my scene or what I want to spend my time listening to.

Songs lack substance and sound very dated

Very generic early 80's hair rock. Found it quite bland and thin.

Quite plain.

Algumas canções possuem melodias semelhantes a faixas do Ramones. Achei curioso. Enfim, é uma mistura de Hair Metal com Punk e um toque de Glam. Não é uma combinação ruim, e imagino que se você fosse um jovem finlandês na década de 80 você se divertiria tremendamente nos shows da banda. Mas não estou na Finlândia e não é mais a década de 80, e isso afeta gravemente meu aproveitamento deste disco. E apesar de tudo, por mais incrivelmente datado que esse álbum é, eu ainda consigo tirar uma pirazinha saudável aqui. É um disco de Rock Pop acima de seus outros gêneros. E as canções são agradáveis o suficiente, por mais que não sejam tão inspiradoras. Divertido 3.5/5

3.5

This has taken a bit of a beating on the 1001 site, and I seem to be in the minority of users who enjoyed this enough to want to listen again in future. Supposedly an inspiration for the likes of Guns N' Roses, Motley Crüe and Skid Row, although the choruses didn't feel overly memorable on first listen, and although there were undoubtedly a handful of weaker offerings towards the album's tail end, it broadly gave off the impression of being greater than the sum of its parts. It sounds like a halfway house between the DIY energy of punk rock and arena-hair metal, whilst remaining slightly off-kilter and somewhat eccentric the whole way through. It also attempts, and largely manages to pull off more expansive songwriting on the likes of "Lick Summer Love". Definitely enough of a curiosity to warrant further spins.

the album is produced by Dale Griffin and Pete Overend Watts from Mott The Hoople and you can certainly hear their influence stamped throughout the recording, but the songs are weak and lacklustre, half-arsed hair metal.

Just ok, better than i expected though

This was just okay. I don't think I understand what the appeal is. Felt like generic rock music, and nothing really interesting happening here.

Why is this generic Hair Metal on here? Plenty of other Finnish bands could have fit the bill.

Ive heard some Hanoi Rocks songs but none from this album. Razzle is a good drummer, hopefully he doesnt get into a car crash with another musician that makes this type of music but worse (you know who you are).

Not that bad, not that good

You can hear the influence of their work on glammy punky indie rock of the 90s and 2000s here (Bands like the early Manics, Fratellis or The Vaccines, for example). It is a fun record, but ultimately just sort of as good as a mid tier Ramones album without being as essential. Sonically they might be most similar to a band like The Vapors in being more musically talented than the average punk, but also a bit less edgy. I do love the Vapors though, so that is not a criticism from me. I had a good time though. It sounds good and the hooks are catchy, with occasional dabblings in weird instruments and sounds. I will definitely add Malibu Beach Nightmare to my 70s/80s lite punks at the beach playlist (Undertones "Here Comes the Summer", Barracudas "Summer Fun", Vapors "Sunstroke", Blondie "In the Sun", Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun", GoGos "Vacation" & "Beatnik Beach" and Dead Milkmen "Beach Song" & "Beach Party Vietnam", for the record)

2.5

It was fine

Fairly bland glam rock, but I've certainly heard far worse

consistent throughout, very rock. i like it but, probably not my style of music but i did enjoy listening.

Never heard of these guys. 80s hair/glam metal, not exactly something I seek out. This does start strong. But as it goes on, wears out its welcome. 3.5 rounded down Heard before? No Owned: No, 112/450 (24%) Will I get: No

Muñeco batea ahh 3/10——>2/5

My expectations were set pretty low, but the album fun :)

Fine

rock im namen, rock it is. war aber sicher in den 80ern nicht in den top10, heute auch nicht.

Solider Hardrock 4

Mystery city seems like a fun place

metal albums of all time and I felt the lyrics were not great. Good energy but it’s place here is a mystery to Not sure why this hair metal album is here. It’s not included in Martin Popoff’s top 500 heavy me.

Bara venjuleg hljómsveit að spila sín venjulegu lög í áttunni.

Decent

Yeah not a fan of hair rock it feels like. Was probably a 2.5 but rounded up to a 3 as the music itself wasn't too bad.

Familiar with the name, but not a band I’ve ever listened to. They sound just like the run-of-the-mill cookie-cutter hair bands of the 80s. Flatline 3.0

this was fine. some more fun than others. textbook 3.

what do i know? not too much but this sounds like 80s trash

The missing link in the evolution of Rock from The New York Dolls to Poison. Some times evolution goes too far.

Nothing really stood out for me in this one. I don't know why it made the list. It was enjoyable at times, but not exceptional. 3/10

That was a lot of fun

I can't say that the song I like the most is the short folk-ish opening without feeling like a hater or that I'm just provoking, but man this album is incredibly inoffensive, bland and absolutely forgettable. What I'll give it credit for is for not being formulaic and having a palpable diversity, even though nothing sounds interesting. It is also worth praising the fact of not being over-the-top cheesy glam rock/hard rock, and the addition of some weird or different sounds to try and give the album the bare minimum of personality. There are also some almost catchy melodies. Regardless of doing the necessary to avoid being obnoxious, it doesn't get saved from being an empty experience

Back to Mystery City is the breakthrough album of Finnish glam metal outfit, Hanoi Rocks. Widely credited as the band who kick started hair metal and the androgynous look adopted by bands on the Sunset Strip, the list of bands who credit them as a major influence is a who's who of the era (including heavyweights like Poison, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Skid Row, and Guns n' Roses). What makes Back to Mystery City such a good album is that they had the benefit of three previous full lengths under their belt, making the record sharp, well performed, and focused. Along with excellent production (something woefully out of reach of their poverty ridden contemporaries), Hanoi Rocks provided a filler free experience (also rare for the era). Back to Mystery City is an essential and woefully overlooked record by a band that could've and should've been bigger.

⭐⭐⭐+ Positiv överaskning. Detta var inte vad jag förväntade mig, trodde det skulle vara tråkig daterad hair-metall men det här är ren engagerande rock med blandad inspiration och soundet känns inte alls daterat. Albumet är kul, lättillgängligt och meldodiöst, en blandning av Ramones, Beach boys och allmänt polerad garage-rock. Tvekar om jag ska ge en 4a men det får bli en stark 3a. Bäst är Malibu Beach Nightmare, Mental Beat, Until I get you, Back to mystery city

The music is catchy until you hear the lyrics. Like a bunch of teenage kids trying to be cool, doesn't work.

I already love hanoi rocks and this is such a great rock, summertime album, highly recommend.

Nice listen

A solid rocknroll album. Pleased to see a Hanoi Rocks album on this list. There is nothing here that is going to change any worlds, but a feel good upbeat collection from a very influential band. Also, Michael Monroe is a dynamo. Still fit as a fiddle and still performing to his peak in his mid 60s.

These guys were hanging out with Motleu Crue? I guess Vince and the boys were way higher than I gave them credit for.

Torille!

Ain’t nothing special

Rett fra allsang på knettsetra🤟🏾☕️🍺 Glamrock er stemning Hørte ut som de hadde lest oppskriften mens de skrev. Og hørt på glamrock. Eks-Lick summer love. Klisjé tekst Mystery city, heftig by🤟🏾🫶 wham bam gangbang everynight! Likte elva og fuglene i første. Ellers var det basic og litt kjedelig. Ikke no særpreg.

Det svinge

I do like these goofball inclusions that really don't merit much of a place on the list. Hanoi Rocks didn't move the needle much and didn't make unique music and their most famous achievement is one of their members dying next to someone who should've been included instead. The album isn't that special. Not bad enough to dislike but only really interesting if you listened to all the other more famous Hair Metal acts beforehand. I don't even like Hair Metal. Godspeed to Robert Dimery for being the only person to think of Hanoi Rocks since the 1980's.

This album sparked the LA rock re-generation in the mid 80s. It draws on Thin Lizzy, The New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, and adds a new layer of sparkle to it. They lost their great drummer, Razzle, to a drunken car crash by Vince Neil, and their singer Mike Monroe is still rocking. 4 stars for swaggering punky glam rock

Hard rocking anthems that I don’t remember honestly.

criminally under-rated, under-appreciated, Hanoi Rocks from Finland, the original glam metal band. without them, you would not have a Poison, Ratt, Cinderella, etc etc. Hanoi Rocks was on the verge of stardom but in 1984 their drummer was killed as a passenger in Vince Neil's car while he was driving under the influence in LA. the band broke up a year later (they did reunite in the early 2000s for two albums). honestly, i was surprised this one made the list. i consider this one as one of their weaker ones. me, i would have chosen their debut, "Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks". i own their first five albums (the catalog until they broke up in '84). the two songs on this album for me are "Malibu Beach Nightmare", "Until I Get You", and "Back to Mystery City". go listen to their "Bangkok Shocks..." album, that's the true sound of the band.

Surprise surprise. Another, yes, ANOTHER 80s post punk album. I guess this one has tinges of hair metal, which makes it different enough from the other 245 eighties post punk albums we have listened to so far to add it to the list. Nothing special. Borderline annoying. I did kinda like the uniqueness of the almost animal like singing at times.

When i saw the cover art and the year released I was thinking ok here we go expecting the worse. We'll as the saying goes "You can't judge a book by it cover" is true. I was expecting to give a 1 or 2, it is a well deserved 3.

I really liked sailing down the tears. The rest was alright. Not bad overall.

I’m sure it was a fine album in 1983.

At a bit of a loss for words on this one.

Whatever. I don’t know if it’s just that hair metal isn’t for me or if this genuinely just isn’t interesting. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but it washed off of me like rain on a smooth stone. In one ear and out the other. Something something mystery city.

Ein Rock-Album aus den 80ern. Rockt gut, aber für mich keine Highlights zu finden. 3/5

Saw hair band and thought it'd be awful. It was good for hair band, but still bad but I guess I'm giving it a two since it exceeded my low expectations.

This has got a bit more creativity to it than your average hair metal album.

Listened to this 2x. It was less metaly the second time but still not hearing any hooks or interesting stuff. Might be decent as a relic of another time but hard to get through.

I'm glad it existed to fuel the band I like inspired by them. I didn't mind it and wouldn't avoid hearing it, but wouldn't seek it out again either.

I love the frontman Michael Monroe and he is actually still touring and just as pretty. Fun band. Love the glam punk genre for fun.

It’s actually better than I thought, above average but not quite good enough to deserve a 4

Pretty non-descript and won’t listen again.

I understand this is for someone. It's very dated, it's very what it was for that time, era and what poor influences it had. This being said it led to some great music and some real trash. I would like to think these guys would have to had influenced Mõtley Crü and Poison. But also the New York Dolls and some pretty less than stellar hair bands.

The 3-est 3 to ever 3

Liked it more than I expected, but not as much as I could have. This genre is kind of a mess, but it's not a joke.

Glam punk eh? I dont hear the punk. I do hear the Glam, Heavy Rock, Proto Hair Metal and I dont like it.

This was fun! If The Clash made hair metal. Probs 3.5 but will round up

No. 431/1001 Strange Boys Play Weird Openings NR Malibu Beach Nightmare 3/5 Mental Beat 3/5 Tooting Bec Wreck 4/5 Until I Get You 4/5 Sailing Down the Tears 3/5 Lick Summer Love 3/5 Beating Gets Faster 4/5 Ice Cream Summer 3/5 Back to Mystery City 3/5 Average: 3,33 Thought this was a pretty nice listen. Liked the arrangements and the vocals.

It was good

Boring. It's a product of its time and pretty generic.

80’s hair band pop rock. Meh.

Would listen on repeat

This was a lot of fun! It was pretty standard rock, but it grooved. The horn lines were so good and did help spice it up! This was very enjoyable! Liked Songs: "Malibu Beach Nightmare" , "Mental Beat" , "Sailing Down the Tears" , "Beating Gets Faster" , "Ice Cream Summer" , "Back to Mystery City"

Okay this album has been pretty fucking fun man. I love the 80s punk attitude that comes through in this. These guys are Finnish apparently. Good stuff! 4 stars.

If I liked hair metal more this would hit harder

This (Hanoi) rocks! Too bad it's not properly on streaming.