Back to Mystery City

Middle of the road and nothing memorable or catchy.

Unremarkable

Hanoi Rocks! Pretty solid punk album. Goin with a 3 still though.

Why is this album on the list?

So far on my list, it's one of the rare European albums that are not from the UK or Ireland - it's from a Finnish band. It's 1980s glam rock, quite fun, listenable, not very 80s sounding, but still not a very interesting album overall. Just average glam rock, and my question is - why this was included in this list? I couldn't find any informations if it was an influential album, or what's the reason it is different from the thousands of other glam rock albums.

As soon as I saw the album cover I knew this was gonna suck and I wasn't wrong.

Never heard this band, but heard of this band. Honestly I was expecting early Motley Crue or early Twisted Sister leanings. This goes more for the first Aerosmith influences. Which is fine I guess. But I would like to have heard some more grit. Good, not great.

Ha man, this album does not need to be on this list. It was fine, but in general just kind of shitty 80s glam rock. It has it's place but definitely not something you must listen to before you die.

nothing stood out. Background music

Not bad but I wouldn't revisit it. Middling 2.

The music on this album is pretty much just glam rock, which I do enjoy, but the vocals could let the album down a little bit, but not enough for me to dislike any of it. I overall found the album to be pleasant. I consider this to be a high 3/5.

Really good bridge to thrash from classic rock

3.8 - I liked this, need to maybe check it out again sometime

Shout out Tooting bec 3/5

It's a collection of tracks, but not something I needed to hear before I died.

Good sample of 80’s rock

Very fun first half of the record but then mind of meanders midway through.

Nothing really special here. Tooting Bec Rec was pretty good. Other than that pretty pedestrian.

Fantastic, weird 80's glam punk. Similar to New York Dolls or Motley Crue. There is actually a tie in with Motley Crue and this band. Razzle, the drummer for Hanoi Rocks was killed in a car accident in '84. The car was driven by Motley Crue singer, Vince Neil. Favourite songs: Until I Get You, Back to Mystery City, Lick Summer Love, Beating Gets Faster, Malibu Beach Nightmare, Sailing Down the Tears, Tooting Bec Wreck Least favourite songs: Ice Cream Summer 4/5

Está chulo.

pretty rocking, really. 4 stars.

2 songs in, this is pretty good. Hair rock with saxophone?? yes PLEASE. Started getting a little boring near the end but this wasn't bad.

The infamous Glam Punk band, criminaly underatted and undeapreciate, i'm accually suprised to see one of their album here. It started with a accoutisc oppening with river and bird songs, absoluttly not preparing us for the rest, but still kinda funny. It then go with the powerfull riff of Malibu Beach Nightmare. some songs are very good, others forgettable, The best songs are: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Mental Beat, Lick Summer Love, Betting getting faster, Ice Cream Summer and Back to Mystery City. But honneslty the songs all have some cool intro, riffs and Mike Monroe always give a hell of a good vocals job. The songs are bluesy, metal, rock and punk, sometimes all at once, showing their vats music skills and influences of others bands like New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, english glam Rock (Bowie, T.Rex, Roxy Music), The Sex Pistols or more classical rock band like the Stones or Aerosmith. In addition of their songs, they have an authenticity, a street wise glam punk attitude and way of telling their songsd, that is more than just the girls and party vibe of others Glam bands (that i also like but i more authentic here). Micheal Monroe is one of the best frontman in rock, vclarly in that period of time, because all thoses band kinda immitte him. Their songs just genuily feels real and still got that good vibe of others glam band, its a shamed theyr never get big. The influenced Hanoi Rocks have, with this album and all their others, is significant, especially when you look at all the american Glam Metal scene (Especially in the Sunset Strip) its undiable, from their songs, to their attitude and their look. Huge band have praised them, Guns N' Roses in particular, memebrs have often said good things about Hanoi Rocks an sayin how much they have influence them. The list of bands is long, Ratt, Alices In Chains, Poison, LA Guns, Skid Row, Foo Fighters, Mötley Crüe and even Def Leppard. To conclude the album is very good, i dont know if its the best album of Hanoi Rocks cause i dind't listen to all of them, but this one is one of the best 80's Glam Metal album i have heard, because of the attitude, the feeling and the music. But we have to regognise their influences, but some songs are not very good, a bit repetitive and it almost feel like some songs were not at maximum potential. Anyway love it.

The Clash without any soul

an album that i'm not into that apparently inspired many other artists that i'm also not into

Never heard Hanoi Rocks before. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of glam/hair rock but there are songs I can get into under the umbrella. Having said that, this album didn't do anything for me. I didn't particularly care for any of the hooks or choruses and I didn't find them very memorable. Favorite song was 'Tootin Bec Wreck'. I feel bad for it but I can't say I like this album or will even remember it.

I don't understand why this is on the list, but read some articles explaining their influence. I need a movie about this band starring Joaquin Phoenix or Jamie Foxx to revisit my rating.

I'd never heard of these guys and now that I have, my idea that the greatest Finnish export to the world is Kimi Raikkonen is unchanged. This album is the soundtrack to a minorly successful summer movie about teenagers in California in 1986, directed by a German man and filmed in pre-war Croatia. Not bad, just fairly forgettable.

This one isn’t on Amazon prime music and I wasn’t willing to sit through YouTube ads for it If I want to hear that drum beat I’ll just watch the old Dog Show skits

These guys didn't sound Vietnamese or Finnish.

Didn’t find it to be particularly innovative or inspiring in anyway… May have been much more so it is time, but I found it very run of the mill …. Pretty good, nothing special for me. I certainly see how others could listen and get all hyped by it ….

So Hanoi Rocks “Back To Mystery City” was fine, as I liked the idea of a Finnish rock band – especially since I had a really hot blond Finnish girlfriend once… : ) Was not very familiar with them – though I had heard some of their music… Remember thinking that they were one of early “hair metal” bands along with Motely Crue and a few others in like 1981 – which was cool… And I do remember hearing about them alot when their drummer was killed in that car accident with Vince Neil of Motely Crue driving, while they were on a “beer run” after a heavy night of drinking… Seems like they were never the same after that… As for the album, every track on the album was solid – though there were moments of goodness scattered throughout… The 2 best tracks IMO – we the “Summer” songs… “Lick Summer Love” – 4-stars out of 7… “Ice Cream Summer” – 4-stars out of 7… Again – a fairly straight-forward rock/punk sound, with decent musicianship and song-writing – and would have been fine seeing in a bar in the early 80’s, but certainly nothing exceptional for sure… Would probably give this a 2.25 if I could, for being part of the origin of “hair metal” – especially a commercially-friendly band as well, and Finland’s greatest contribution to rock…

New York Dolls meets Thin Lizzy with a dash of 80's. It's not bad but not sure why it made the list. 2.5 stars.

70’s blender rock. A little punk (like direct Ramones chords), some glam, radio rock,… all decent, none special.

I'm not a big fan of this style. Nothing was awful about it but I'm not going to listen to it again.

There's nothing really wrong with this, except I don't understand the importance of it or why it's on the list. Everything here has been done better by other artists. It's totally fine, and I wouldn't turn it off. But it's not going to be put into heavy rotation, either.

High 3 pero no me mato

Energético y divertido

Its okay! Nothing to special but there's a few bangers

Had a moment or two of being interesting. Otherwise, not worth my time. 2/5

These guys could be the worst band in the world but as long as they have Andy McCoy, they will always have legendary status. I feel like this band’s trajectory would have been different if they had only come out after Appetite for Destruction. No songs need to be skipped but I don’t think any of them could have skyrocketed these guys into superstardom either. It’s just a middle of the pack album. Choice cut: Tooting Bec Wreck

Had not heard this before but listening to this made me go and listen to other releases by them.

The album art makes me cringe a bit, but these guys from Finland are right on top of the developments of Glam Metal. As someone who grew up loving Glam Metal (and still listen to it occasionally), I can't deny that this made me bop my head. Observation: When your rhythm guitarist is called Nasty Suicide, it shows how tough these guys thought they were. That's pretty funny forty years after.

I listened to the first 30 seconds of the first 4 tracks and didn't want to waste any more time.

I'm just baffled at the inclusion of this album on this list. Fuck off

after noticing some discrepancies with the lyrics, i dug around and learned that on spotify (as well as at least apple music according to another reviewer) tracks 4-7 are actually tracks 4-7 from their first album. can you just swing over to the debut and play the correct Mystery City songs there? no, that'd be too easy, Bangkok Shocks of course has the correct tracks 4-7. this works for and against my initial impressions, as it means both the vile lyric "the sweet taste from the lips between your legs" (which sent me down this rabbit hole) and my favorite song (Cheyenne, mislabeled as Lick Summer Love) are both not actually on Mystery City. without this valley and peak, it's pretty unremarkable. more fun and less grating than the glam metal bands they'd influence, at least

meh. Not terrible but I don't find it very interesting.

This was really fun! Worth another listen and a couple of real bangers, like mental beat and beating gets faster

Finished better than it started. Was ready to skio it by glad I listened all the way. Still not great, but not as bad as it appeared at first. Hoping the next album that shows up is better.

When it came to Back to Mystery City, Initially, i didn't have the best feelings towards it, During the first half, It was alright but the voice and some of the instruments were not exactly the best sounding, They were sometimes annoying and could be a bit too much. Then, the second half came, and my god was it an improvement. Most of the stuff that had made some of the first half annoying was all gone by the second half as well as it showing some great guitar work and interesting musical ideas. This was probably one of the biggest examples of a turn around enough to raise this album from a 2 to a 3.5 Best Song: Back To Mystery City Worst Song: Tooting Bec Wreck

This album was better than I expected, but that's not saying much. There were songs that were some solid 80's rock and roll, but too much of it seems forgettable, throwaway, and a relic of a time that contains a lot of music most people are happy to just forget.

A very adequate hair metal album, which is above par for my baseline opinion of hair metal. Mixing is kinda awful as the vocals are often washed out, but a pretty fun sound and mix of songs.

fuck shit to the rock and roll, bro!

Don’t really know how I missed listening and eating this one- it’s apparently been in my list for almost 2 years. Well, I listened, and it was typical of this list; barely better than some house band from a 1980s Club era.

m lo esperaba peor

I wasn’t expecting to see a glam rock album on here, and while I know some Hanoi Rocks songs, none of them are on this album. It’s alright, nothing extraordinary.

Älkää luulko.. suomessa iskelmää lauletaan ei ole hanoi kaupunkia täällä... Harvoja maanpettureita on... Tosiasia..

some fun glammy classicy rock. nothing special but a fun ride. 3/5

líkar ekki þessi stefna. glammálmur. en allt í lagi.

Basic 80s rock. I think was a precursor to the hair band era

I'm not sure why this website hates glam so much (besides Bowie), but I don't care. This album was fun and inarguably influenced some pretty substantial acts, and also incorporated many influences that I loved. Lick Summer Love sounds like it could be on Machine Gun Etiquette, and I love it.

This was a fun album. I’ve always meant to check out Hanoi Rocks, and I’m glad I finally did. Kind of reminds me of Cheap Trick. Would listen to again.

Not at all what I expected. I assumed it'd be some butt rock stuff, but this was actually catchy and groovin'. I enjoyed this one a lot. 4/5

I’ve never totally taken Hanoi Rocks seriously tbh, they also kind of felt like posers, but I’ll concede that this is better than most hair metal. C

Good musicianship but no.

that was definitely a thing that happened could i write poetry to this? n (and i was trying)

Underrated and underappreciated. This influenced so much of what I listened to in the mid-to-late-Eighties. Listening to it now, it's a shame I didn't listen to more Hanoi Rocks back then. I would have been a much better-informed Hair Metal fanatic.

Not particularly noteworthy. Not sure why it made this list.

It grew on me a little bit as it went along. I don't love it, but it's not terrible.

Best Finnish Glam rock album of all time?

1.5 Hanoi Rocks, more like Hanoi Sucks, am I right!?!? I thought this might be a tongue-in-cheek glam rock album. Turns out they are just Finnish. Still 1.3 better than Elbow

Uninspired, dull, and quite naff.

Was this really necessary? 4/10

Its ok

Interesting, never heard before

teollisuus kasveja 80 luvulta ö. tuedetään mistä lapset tykkää, nuoret, algoritmit täydellusesti viilattuna . tykkää homoista ne nuoret. ei siinä mitään...mitään vastaan ole.. miellekästähän musiikkia on vaikkakin artifisiaali älyköllä luotu. vähän acdc kuuluu läpi , sen lisäksi kun kaikki hair metal rokki tukkapojot lick summer love

God this is bad..............

Gear: Hifiman Arya Mix: wie Kaffee für die Herzstation Musik: hat was, nicht viel, aber was. Wertung: 💇‍♀️(💇‍♀️)/5

This isn't something I'd willing listen to again not list worthy

Interesting to have some glam metal show up. Can't say anything really jumped out to me but this is fine. It all kind of blended together.

This album cover is so bad that it almost becomes good again. The vocal styling, annoying at times. Feels a bit repetitive, nothing jumping out. Beating Gets Faster starts off kind of cool but falls flat. Sounds like music that would be in the B-movie franchise The Best of The Best. There is potential, but needs a different vocalist and tighter arrangements.

I see the appeal but this is my least favorite style of rock. Last song is pretty cool though.

Great album covers!

Catchy with a side of cultural appropriation

No clue why this album is included. This is also super weak to be classified as hard rock and metal

You wouldn't guess it by the cover but this is much better than the cheesy glam metal that came after it.

This may well be the lowest 1 star rating I've awarded so far. Appalling stuff, of absolutely no merit whatsoever. Dimery must have been out of his mind to put this on the list.

More interesting than I was expecting! Drums high in the mix were Joy Division-esque at time, liked the sax/horns.

Enpä osannut odottaa suomalaista musaa. Aika lyhyt rykäisy, mutta ihan menevää. Ei silleensä oikeen suosikkia. Ice Cream Summer hyvä

Was expecting to hate this album. Didn't end up hating it, but still not really a fan. Just kind of feels like whatever, no real purpose to the album. Top tracks: Tooting Bec Wreck

Pretty smarmy

Do I like Hair Metal?? Favourite Track: Beating Gets Faster.

A little chortle to myself when this pinged up. "Hanoi Rocks? Really?". Doing a bit more reading, clearly super influential and maybe we wouldn't have the wonderful range of Nordic power-metal, synth-metal etc without them. But, for all that, many many acts have done it WAY better since.

Keine Hits.

Hard/glam had never ever been my thing, but these finnish dudes are REALLY listenable. 4 out of 5, which is the highest i can mark this genre

Good fun rock and roll! Didn’t seem like it took itself too seriously! Good fun!

Started off interesting then rapidly turned the corner into cheesy shite.

This is what a crap AI-generated album sounds like 40 years before AI. But it’s the same principle - unsurprising and ultimately just boring generic corporate rock. I can smell the hairspray and sweaty spandex, and it’s not pretty.

Some good tracks.

Loud, clearly talented, but nothing memorable. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Shortest album yet surely! Need to look into it there's a reason for it. I mean as far as I'm concerned middle of the road typical rock. Fine!

This is pretty cool, nothing amazing but was good. Liked some of the guitar solos

Prototypical 80s hair metal.

Their English is much better than my Finnish. I wish it wasn’t.

Decent for a "big hair" band. But that entire genre is mediocre at best. While bands like Bon Jovi and Whitesnake were on the radio, you had bands like R.E.M., U2 (for a while), and The Cure relegated to college radio stations. This genre is lame. It produced a few fun songs, but a lot of the time that was when it strayed from the genre (for example, Motley Crue's first album is much more just pure hard rock, and it's their best). 2 stars.

Sehr gut. Leider ist das Album zu kurz

Thank-you, but no thank-you. Not a good way to start the day.

It was ok.

This is a bouncy, energetic, fun little 80's glam rock-y serving garnished with a twist of punk for a bit of added spice. I'll probably have a horrible hangover in the morning, but if you're not allowed to make bad choices, why have the freedom to make choices at all?

Eh this was ok, a solid 3.

Glam genérico, banco una banda Musica para divertirse🤩

full para secuenciar en el palio

Fabulous

Album 312 of 1001 Hanoi Rocks - Back to Mystery City Rating : 3 / 5 Classified as Hard Rock/Metal, but what I pick up from it is more of a Glam Metal. Good listen.

Fun, immature, shallow. I would have loved to see these guys during a glam metal music festival along with Motley Crue, Cinderella, the Scorpions, Ratt, etc.

Pretty cool 80s rock album - the Finnish know how to rock. (plus a song dissing south London is always extra nice). 3.5

Oh this is so great. I knew nothing about this band and had no idea what to expect but this was such good fun. Fave tracks: Malibu Beach Nightmate, Tooting Bec Wreck.

Had a bit of trepidation about this one - hair metal and cock rock, which is what I was assuming Hanoi Rocks were, really isn't my jam. Plus, my first serious girlfriend was Finnish and she always hated on them for being the most well known Finnish band, internationally, so I guess I inherited some prejudice, heh. Turns out this was pretty fun! The first half of the album is a lot stronger than the second, but still. Wikipedia calls this glam punk, and yeah, I can dig it. It's possible Peacemaker has warmed me up to their schtick, too. Fave tracks - "Mental Beat" is awesome. Dug "Tooting Bec Wreck", too...

I was into hair bands when I was a teen in the 80s so I had higher hopes for this album. I couldn't finish it, stopped at track 5.

It's okay. Not bad... not great

Only redeemable feature is it was mercifully short

Why is this on the list??

Oof this is as bad as it gets.

Can hear the impact/influence some of the songs have had to music today or in recent decades.

I'd never heard of this artist or album before until I saw it on a list of the 1001 albums. Everytime I look at the list and scroll past this one, I'm always intrigued by it, so I was excited to be able to review it today. My level of excitement wasn't matched, but this album was okay. This album had a unique approach to hard rock, and I heard a lot of New Wave influences in the sound. "Malibu Beach Nightmare" was my favorite song on the album, and I enjoyed its guitar playing, and there were some nice keyboard sounds in the later half of the song. From there, the album came close to that early peak a few other times. "Until I Get You" marked a return to the guitar sounds that made "Malibu Beach Nightmare" one of the better songs on the album. The drumming on "Until I Get You" reminded me of ZZ Top's "Tube Snake Boogie," and it was a nice compliment to the guitar playing. "Sailing Down the Tears" and "Lick Summer Love" felt like early New Wave, á la the B-52's and Elvis Costello, respectively, and while neither song really blew me away, they were unique. Overall, this album was fine to listen to, but its best parts don't really stack up to a lot of other rock music from this era in my opinion, and half the songs were kind of forgettable. I'm still glad I got to listen to this, and now I can obsess over wondering what the hell Duck Rock by Malcolm McLaren is like.

Not my genre.

Sko þetta er merkilega skemmtilegt svona miðað við hvað þetta er. Átti ekki von á neinu, en þetta er ágætis hármetall, næstum pönkað á köflum. Hár þristur.

I kept feeling like I have heard these songs before. Which makes Hanoi Rocks derivative (in some cases) or trendsetting (in others). I heard a lot of my alt rock favs in their production and arrangements.

Can hear similarities to King Gizzard in a few tracks. Good, light hair metal-ish pop.

Goofier than I was expecting. Not too bad.

Some classic glam rock. Some catchier songs, just not my cup of tea

Ok. Nothing outstanding but nothing offensive either. Just so so.

THE ALBUMNING RETURNS BLESSED DAY I WISH MY CARD WOULD FUCKING WORK IM SWEATING MY TITS OFF ON A WEEKDAY BASIS IM DRESSING UP AS A CAVEMAN AND ITS ALL MY FAULT ANYWAY THIS ALBUM KIND OF BLOWS

fun epic sweet creative youthful delightful a little vapid but qite endearingly. rock n roll punk executed with perfect sincerity. the Scandinavians are mental

Nice Melody.

Another album that doesn't do anything interesting or do it well.

I enjoyed it. Great punk music.

Not sure why this is in the list? Not a very good album

Nice album, I like this type of rock quite a bit. Not sure if it's full on glam but sounds a little more modern than other hair bands from this era. My favorite was probably Malibu Beach Nightmare.

Pretty good, fast-paced, 80s rock album. Nothin super memorable. Beating Gets Faster is a highlight for sure. Fave tracks: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Until I Get You, Beating Gets Faster

Pretty standard glam rock record here. A few of the songs had weird lyrical themes and the title track rips off Mony Mony?? There are some interesting production elements and noises that are a bit Pink Floyd-ish at times, so not all bad. Fav Tracks: Strange Boys Play Weird Opening (great title), Tooting Bec Wreck

Eh

There is a time and place for this album

Fun grimy rock. Some catchy things on here.

Naja

Album Nr. 10 Einfach gute Rockmusik.

Not a huge fan.

Meh. Average at best. Don' know why this is on this list. If I had never heard it, I would still feel completed in my music repertoire.

Not bad. Makes you wonder what might have been had Razzle not gotten in the car with Vince

If I got AI to generate a generic rock album, it would produce this, right down to the odd band name and track titles (look them up). It’s got that uncanny sounds-fine-until-you-actually-listen quality. Shout out to Back To Mystery City which is Mony Mony (lol) and Ice Cream Summer where you get hit with a sudden exclamation of “bitch!” unexpectedly. Apparently these guys influenced Guns N Roses so take from that what you will. Listens: 1 Fave Track: Malibu Beach Nightmare Rating: 2

Bursting at the seams. Loud and chaotic with much more of a punk rock influence than I was expecting from a “glam rock” band. The best moments are when they slow down their frenetic energy and focus more on the hooks and the melody like on the songs “Tooting Bec Wreck,” “Beating Gets Faster” and “Ice Cream Summer” where the glam-rock formula comes more into focus.

There's no reason for this album's inclusion in this project. It's exactly fine. It's largely unmemorable, but it's competently made and inoffensive.

I always tend to think of glam as having these two distinct periods where it emerged in the 70s, died out, and the reappeared out of nowhere in the 90s after glam metal got popular with Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, etc. so it's nice to get these reminders that in between it never really died out. Honestly would be interesting to make some connections between this album, glam metal, and the glam acts of our current day (Yves Tumor etc.)

not nearly as bad as I was expecting, really. not a fan of the 80's glam metal contemporaries, but the addition of some sax and harmonica kinda elevates it? floor is still pretty low though. Tooting Bec Wreck is the worst name but maybe best track here with a good sing a long hook. Until I get you is a decent blues rock song filtered through cocaine and neon. If you like 80's glam radio rock, this is a head above the rest of the pack. but not enough to redeem it. I guess there's a better chance I listen to this again before Motley Crue ?

Everyone likes to pretend the 80s sounded like Blood Orange or Nation of Language or something but it actually sounded like this

Was not familiar with Hanoi rocks other than hearing the name occasionally. Interesting bridge between punk and glam. Couple good songs

Solve the puzzle! Hanoi + (Rocks - R - O + S + U) = ? I quit listening to a song when I lost interest and didn't make it to the end of a single one! Pass.

I don't know why, I thought I'd enjoy this more than I did?

Of it’s time. Maybe a reason they were new to me.

sounds really amateurish at times what is this weird pronunciation, singing bad on purpose? i can't describe it weird and ridiculous there's something in their sound that just doesn't sit well with me i was ready to give it a 2, but rosalita (ice cream summer) and that random 'bitch!' cracked me up, also, as that one reviewer said, there's a saxophone too ++ the second part of the album sounds overall better, probably because you get used to it by the end so yeah, this album left me a bit confused

This album was overall unimpressive. It was fairly standard glam rock/hard rock. Apparently, Hanoi Rocks was influential for later glam metal bands like Poison and Skid Row. The fact that they’re Finnish is interesting but I’m not sure why they were included on this list.

Glam Metal is good, and it's interesting to listen to this and think about its' reverberations into the world. A shame about Razzle their drummer, the band had so much potential with this album, but this album still stands as a big success.

Its litteraly the buzz lightyear meme Drummer carries the album Key songs: Mental beat

It’s ok, probably some of the better 80s glam. I feel there is a lack of energy though

so average i had to take a break from listening to these albums average glam pop rock from the 80s i dunno NNN

vraiment pas si fou. Je comprend pas trop l'inclusion, je trouve que ca derape un pue. Probablement pas dans les nouvelles editions. C'est pas mauvais quand meme... 2.85

2.5/5

1st

A bit of a Brit pop punk kind of vibe. Gave me some Ramones feel. 4.5

Not really my style

You know... there are times when I wonder if I should write music. My own ideas always feel so hokey and simplistic. I feel like everyone will mock me out of the room for trying. And then I hear gems like this and remember that it's okay. Thank you Hanoi Rocks. If you're willing to put your name on this and release it to the public, I can have some courage too.

Wasn’t horrible… wasn’t great… a couple of tunes had kind of a Ramones vibe (which I liked), but otherwise not particularly groundbreaking or unique.

Heard of this band, but not what I expected. 80’s hair metal from Finland. Not that bad, but not great. 2.5 - 3.

Generic.

Inofensivo, palurdo, aburrido. Rock para gente que usa carritos de golf seguido.

On the fence about this one, but leaning toward liking it.

Ooh, I liked this one. I've heard the band name many a time, but I never took the time to delve into their music. 80s glam rock with lots of energy. Will listen again.

Mysterious, for sure.

Solid punk album. Can't say much more or much less about it.

Mediocre.

Glam rock isn’t my favorite genre, and the unsubstantial lyrics make this a miss for me.

1.5

Not really my thing

My moto is "trust the list". It is hard to believe that some of these selections are legitimately top1000 records. But for the most part I'm down to ride the coaster. This however..... this isn't even included in the best work from an obscure band. This band is the second fiddle to another lesser known band I mean by these standards about 10 albums on this list stand to me Mott the Hopple and Hanoi Rocks. That's 1% of the list, where as these bands should represent .02% if that.

Pretty bland and not interesting enough to listen past the first few tracks. Juvenile lyrics - like a high school band. Boring and can't believe it is on this list.

not sure about this one

Honestly never cared for this scene.

I think this is an album that I might have been less interested in if I hadn't read some of the background. Knowing that this band was highly influential on the hair metal bands of the 80s, especially Guns N Roses, provides a lot of useful context when listening to it. Sonically, the album is really good. It's wel-produced, and the songs are fun with a lot of energy. So much of what makes hair metal fun is found here, and I can't really think of anywhere else I heard a lot of these motifs before this album. I don't know that this is an album that I would have ever picked up on my own, but fitted into its proper context, it's an easy album to appreciate 4/5

Rockin

this was just mostly background music for me but i didn’t mind it, reminded me of the film detroit rock city and some of the songs were pretty cool i’ll be honest, don’t think i’d listen to them again, but doesn’t mean they’re bad…

Det her album var superfedt allerede fra det første nummer. Jeg kunne hel sikkert finde på at vende tilbage til det senere.

This was fine. I didn't hate it, but also didn't really love it.

6/10. I think I’m discovering that most things that call themselves metal aren’t actually metal.

Break out the hairspray and get ready for the album that is Finnished before it barely started. Ha. This is okay and it does feel like the picked up where Motley Crue stopped. Nothing really stood out about it except everyone asking me what are you listening to??? I had a roommate who was in a hairband that probably opened up for bands like this and got all the tea about what that era of music was like and it was hilarious. Kind of like the pro-wrestling of music but at the end of the day, they really did deeply care about their craft.

You can't talk about Hanoi Rocks without mentioning Vince Neil. Ok. Done. Moving on... Back to Mystery City isn't isn't glam rock-y enough and that's the surprise here. There's no soup-y overproduced love ballads or high-pitched crooning. It's dirty, lo-fi and relatively basic. Put this against the other glam rock bands of the day, I'd choose this.

Not Vietnamese. Or from Vietnam. Or having anything at all to do with Vietnam. At first. Serious Japan (the band) vibes here. Hanoi Rocks also became popular in Japan (the country), but no word on what Vietnam thought of them. Maybe they would have grown in popularity in Asia and elsewhere, but the band didn’t survive the death of their drummer, Razzle. Razzle was a passenger in a car driven by a drunk Vince Neil of Motley Crue, and the two people in the other car suffered brain damage. Neil only went to jail for 30 days. I had to find “Back To Mystery City” on YouTube, and I can't say my dedication to tracking down this album was worth it. I’m glad I signed out first to prevent a wave of hair band recommendations from poisoning my algorithm. What about Asia (the band)? They don’t get a spot on the list? “Heat of the Moment” is better than anything from Hanoi Rocks or Japan.

With the teased up hair and glam description I kept waiting for this album to get cheesy, but it never came. This blows Mötley Crüe, RATT, Poison, Whitesnake, and the like out of the water.

So bad. I get why they're on here if these are the guys who inspired a decade of butt rock. But so many bands like Crue, Ratt, Whitesnake, etc did it sooooo much better. These guys really blow.

These guys sound like they'd be fun to party with. Songs range from decent to woefully bad, but nothing exceptional. If I'm not mistaken, this is the only Finnish album on the list. A missed opportunity to include some viking metal instead. Damned shame that. 2 mascara sticks out of 5

Really enjoyed the instrumentals. Vocals were hit or miss throughout, but a fun album overall.

I don’t know much about Hanoi Rocks, but I do know that the drummer Razzle was killed by Vince Neil’s drunk driving, who served only 19 days in jail. Mötley Crüe then went on to carry on making music. It’s one of the most bizarre things to happen in rock music and a massive injustice, and it really needs a Netflix exposé. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Sailing Down The Tears, Beating Gets Faster I don’t know why I haven’t listened to much Hanoi Rocks before. Glam rock and metal was a big part of my life for a good while, but I just didn’t look much into this band for some unknown reason. This album was pretty spectacular. It has plenty of catchy melodies, nice distorted guitars, and vocals that don’t tend to shriek quite as much as some similar styled bands. I liked this a lot, and I’m very glad I’ve finally given them a good listen.

Mid

It’s been a bad week album wise and this wasn’t something I would necessarily listen to again but comparatively it scores 3*

Now this was fun. Tooting Bec Wreck was a tune!

This isn't the worst thing I've ever listened to, the basic drumbeat throughout is a bit of a giveaway I reckon, poor man's billy idol

this is actually less shockingly crap than "finnish glam rock" would suggest, but nowhere near non-crap enough to make me want to try and find the half of the album that isn't on spotify

Shitty generic 80's glam rock

Torture

Meh

hanoi rocks was sort of a b-list hair metal band in the early 80s. going in, literally the only thing i knew about them was that one of their members, razzle, was killed by vince neil in a car accident in which he was the passenger and vince was drunk. there were far more “misses” than “hits” on this album. yes, you can see some signs that maybe there was something special there, but most of the album fell flat with me.

Yeah, I kinda dug this.

Fun early 80’s glam that set the stage for Poison, Motley Crue and the like.

2,5

Extremely 80's. a short but pleasant album. catchy riffs and nice vocals. Nothing to note though there is a couple moments where the instrumentation feels off. It also doesn't have any tracks that stand out. Final Thoughts: Good for background noise. Genre: Glam Rock, 1983. Rating: 3.4/5

Finnish rock band. Popular I early 80’s. I honestly didn’t like any of it.

Once more, I do not care for Glam Rock. 1.5/5

Very fun and big sound! Feels like a cross between hair metal and rock n roll.

I enjoyed this album far more than I expected. It’s cheesy at times, sure, but it’s like a more distorted take on new wave and New Romantics, and I’m here for that.

ah, another fourth studio album and a band that references itself in song. I could see myself loving this punk rock sound back in the day if I had my hands on this album. pretty derivative sound, but still pretty good.

Serviceable rock. Malibu Beach Nightmare is fine, though Tooting Bec Wreck and Until I Get You are highest on my list. I poppy rock style, a la Poison, but without much of the catchiness.

Obviously not an album that takes itself very seriously, but was still fun all the same. Kinda raucous, kinda dirty minded. But a fun romp throughout. In a weird way, it kind of reminded me of the New York Dolls and the Replacements, very similar energy. I'm not sure I feel like it is a particularly important or influential album, but still fun all the same.

11th September 2023 Listened across 2 days cos it’s half on Spotify. Chilled day with a gym visit. Can hear shades of Tommy James and the Shondells, lightweight pop punk. 2.5 if I could.

They got spirit and genuinely sound like the band is really enjoying themselves. For that, I'll give 3 stars.

Not really sure what to make of this - it veered into almost Bay City Rollers territory in places, and had the feel of late-not-so-great Gen X at times, too. It was more fun that I expected, but still a bit too straight-ahead rock (other than the weird intro and birdsong interspersed in places) for me to really get into it.

I came close to bailing during the first track. The saxaphone saved it. This is bar room brawl music. I'm not up for the fight. I wimped out at track two.

Glam rock. Está bien. Venga, un 4.

4.0

My Mrs loves these, and she turned me onto The Cramps so her taste must not be questioned. However I haven't heard much of them, and mention of Motley Crue doesn't fill me with confidence. Surprisingly though, this is a much more punk rock record than I expected, the glam cock rock stylings are around the edges rather than the main thrust. A few songs remind me of Pink Grease, obviously influenced by these, and they're great.

BEST SONGS: - Mental Beat - Tooting Bec Wreck

I actually quite like this, but I'm not sure of its significance to end up on this list.

Boring, no wonder I've never heard of this band before

2.5/5. Pretty plain, so not bad but certainly not good. I won't be remembering this one.

Peacemaker rocks! :D

4.5 because half of the album were blocked in my country

Why?

It was a bit “meh”. Hard 3.

Kelpo rockia. Omissa papereissa ei mikään mestariteos ja sen verran pitää vetää kotiin päin ettei tälle ainakaan kakkosta voi laittaa.

Hanoi Rocks ei oo itelle mikään ihmeellisyys ikinä ollut, mut upeeta, et tällaselle listalle päässyt. Ja kuitenkin reipas ja vauhdikas levy, että viihdyin toki kuunnellessa

Strange mix of punk, new wave, and hair metal. Some call backs to early rock and roll mixed in. Overall a confusing mix of styles with nothing that really stood out to me.

Not great...not bad..not much to say. I guess 3/5

Actually this is ok, the right balance of some sleazy vibes, sing along choruses and chunky riffs. Bon Jovi listened to this, cleaned it up a bit and boom.

This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it a lot

Ha(ir) + Noi(se) Rocks!

293/500

Mediocre at best. Nothing special here. I hear the are big in Finland - the rest of the is just fine without them. 2.5/5

RIP Razzle

No thanks

It was fine, but nothing special.

Was okey, any special feelings. unfortunatelly...

Huh, vem hade trott att även finsk glamrock låter exakt som all annat glamrock? Nog inte min grej bara. Känns som meningslöst trummande och strummande utan mål eller känsla. Finns det känsla så är den överdriven och fejk. I vissa låtar kommer någon sorts substans fram. Som i 'Tooting Bec Wrecked', som faktiskt är riktigt bra. I mellanspelen finns några sorgsna bastoner och i refrängerna anas lite desperation. 'Until I Get You' också helt ok. Utöver det är det mest ingenting. Bästa låt: Tooting Bec Wrecked.

It's not awful but it's also pretty unexceptional

Not as bad as I expected from the cover, but still this really isn’t my bag.

No not for me

Didn’t finish, it wasn’t offensively bad but I just knew it wasn’t for me.

Glam rock with 80s production, it's exactly what you'd expect. Trying to imitate others like KISS but with a childish sense of humor and fast energy. Everything about this feels commercial and derivative. Awful mixing, and inconsistent volume. Not a single outstanding track, but there were a few I could bear with. Favorites: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Tooting Bec Wreck, Ice Cream Summer

Ik weet het eerlijk gezegd niet met deze. Het helpt ook niet dat maar de helft van de nummers op Spotify staan. Het is opzich wel leuke rock, en wordt wellicht wel leuker als je het vaker luistert. Maar voor hetzelfde geld verveelt het heel snel.

Está chulo.

'Until I Get You' sounds like a classic glam metal song of it's day, the rest of the album is decent listen

Sure. Some alright tracks. 2/5

Meh

I thought it was going to be rubbish 80's glam based on the cover, and the first few 1 star reviews on here... but I really liked this! They've got something about them. They have a real manic energy, with tons of personality and attitude. Nice rocking guitars and rock vocals. Plenty of 'waows' in there and so on. Good stuff!

Well - classic rock doing classic rock things I guess?

Tof hardrockalbum

interesting rock!!

All style, no substance. Mediocre songs played by a mediocre band. And they're not even cool in a tongue-in-cheek way. Found on the Wikipedia page about the band: "Although musically closer to traditional rock n' roll and punk, Hanoi Rocks has been cited as a major influence in the glam metal genre for bands such as Guns N' Roses, Skid Row and Poison." That sure explains a few things. Next, please. Number of albums left to review: 528 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 226 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 109 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 138 (including this one)

5/10 glam rock. rien a se remémorer

Vince Neil should be in prison

I love glam metal

Only listened to the songs available on spotify. Kinda disappointing ngl. Just some more wanna be rock stars

why i gotta listen to this

Song #1, "WTF is this, Jethro Tull or something?" Song #2, "No wait, it's like the Bay City Rollers or Van Halen. Actually sounds a little like Tom Petty. Or Springsteen maybe?" Song#3, "Alice Cooper! That's what it reminds me of." Song #4, "I don't care what it is, I like it!" 4 stars.

Wondering how this got onto the list. The band was known but never really suggested anything original. For this album the band doesn't seem to know whether it should be rock, not powerful enough or pop, lacking memorable catchy tunes. So it fails on both.

cool

Different sound. Some interesting songs

Bit average

Liked this. Sad all the songs aren’t on Spotify

Pretty good I thought

The kind of glam rock that I have trouble getting into. Sounds like they were not hugely successful, but were influential to some other glam bands who I also don't like listening to.

This is labeled as glam metal on Wikipedia, but it's so goofy and all over the place I'm not sure that's an accurate way to pigeonhole it. There's almost a punk energy to their irreverence, but it mostly sounds like some bizarre strain of sarcastic power pop. If this is hair metal, I enjoy it a helluva lot more than almost any of the other big names of the genre. This went from 3 to 4 stars on second listen. I appreciate that they don't take themselves too seriously. Fun stuff.

Pretty dumb but... fine I suppose. I dunno, I think there's better stuff out there in this style.

Some fun, ferocious Finnish rock and roll; music guaranteed for a good time. Favorites: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Tooting Bec Wreck, Until I Get You, Lick Summer Love, Ice Cream Summer.

I feel like Back to Mystery City is good but also doesn't quite deliver on its potential. It's fun and glam but doesn't push itself enough to earn more than a low 3. Could've been more.

I liked this. Not loads (and don't see why it's in this list as it's definitely not the best of its type, or particularly groundbreaking), but it's fun, slightly OTT glam, on the way towards metal but doesn't get that close. Nothing special, but quite a good listen, a low 3.

In an effort to keep my reviews consistent, I keep these attributes in mind when I choose an album's rating: recording, performances, and songs. The performances and recording of this album are fine but the songs are not good. Say what you want about Motley Crue and Poison, they had song craft figured out.

most songs unavailable on spotify- decent but average

Had no idea of what these folx were going to sound like, but apparently, every movie that is set in the 80s uses their styling to imply the 80s.

Pares de tot el moviment hair metal dels '80. Curiosament des de Helsinki, molt lluny del glamour i estètica de L.A., bullidor de tota aquella escena. Discografia molt curta però impecable. I aquest tercer disc és una bona mostra de la seva facilitat per les bones melodies i per uns temes irresistibles. La veu de Michael Monroe és de les millors del rock 80's, i les guitarres d'Andy McCoy fan la resta. No hi ha tema a saltar en els seus poc més de 40 minuts de música. És impossible de no disfrutar

Big surprise that this was more than tolerable. Fun, stupid, sleazy glam rock/punk. Thankfully closer to the Ramones and New York dolls than classic hard rock. First half much better than B side.

Uninteresting, bland, generic glam rock.

I mean, okay? Seems like an decent-to-good 80's hair metal album. Lots of hooks. Lots of cheese. Lots of terrible fashion choices. It's a fun listen, but is it all that revolutionary? I guess it did inspire a lot of their contemporaries, but from today's POV, I don't hear anything that makes it all that worthy of this list. Still though...fun.

This kind of glam rock doesn't really push me toward love or hate. It just is. This album's just kind of there. Best track: Beating Gets Faster

Their look and their music don't completely line up

Got the sense of being a Beach Boys wannabe updated for the eighties. Could listen to it again but no single trach compels me to do so

Simply awful. I don't understand the album selection, or what Genre is so denuded of choice that this would get in?

I thought this would suck a lot more than it did. Nothing special but hardly worth hating. Back to back "I can't believe I don't hate this, have a 3" days.

The most 80s sound ever. I felt like I was a 80s movie- and while that sound can be fine in a 80s movie montage a whole album is a lot.

Ok, you like the Ramones. I get it. I've heard high school demos recorded on a 4 track that have more soul and life than this album. I don't understand why I'm listening to it on the 1001 albums I have to hear.

Classic leopard spandex fun but with some more classic rock and roll showing through

80s rock'n roll. Klinkt leuk. ***

Positives only review. This album's got some great rhyming, such as fun, sun and done, as well as girl and pearl and gone and on, and that's all in the first couple of verses. It's very upbeat, and jolly. Mr Hanoi has some very good vocal noises he can do when he's not rhyming so well (and a great haircut). Sometimes he makes great grr noises like a real thrash metal singer. It's got some mega key changes. My mate Craig was still listening to this in sixth form, he had a Capri, I bet he still plays it. Mostly Harmless Finnish fun.