Reviews (page 7 of 7)
I don't want to be harsh but... it's just some rock...
For whatever reason, Spotify is missing half of this album. It is a pity because I was really enjoying what I listened to.
Meh
I get why the album is on the list, but the music really is laughable. Such a weird band (and a weird wiki article with an introduction ending on "Miriam Stockley on backing vocals, who had also sung with Pink Floyd". a) this is super weird to write in an introduction to an album, and b) it just seems to not be true). Hanoi Rocks were not native speakers of English and the lyrics show it. They are even more simplistic than the bands they inspired. I will admit that I got my hopes up after the cool 'Beating Gets Faster', only to be vastly disappointed by the childish 'Ice Cream Summer'.
I understand that this is highly influential. Unfortunately I’m not a huge fan of a lot of the bands that Hanoi Rocks influenced. Most of this just sounds plain silly and it only really shines at times on “Tooting Bec Wrecked” and “Beating Gets Faster”.
Solid 80s rock. I was surprised to see this on here as there is much better out there but it’s not terrible.
хмм хмммм смесь всего
get real
Second album by one of the original hair metal bands. The style is somewhere between Motley Crue and Def Leppard. A pop version of hard rock. It's more about fun than about art. Not bad, not great. I don't think it's essential. Favorite song: Mental Beat.
Generic af. I don’t even say af like the kids do, but it’s fitting here. These guys are just unspecial, watered down rum and coke when I ordered a Cuba Libre.
This was a really hard to find album and yet it’s somehow one of the 1001 albums I need to hear. Interesting. Overall it also was not that great to listen to. So I’d say this album was not that important. 3.4/10
banal
Pretty good old school rock album.
Meh. 2/5
Mystery City is a Shrekian party record, familiar in silliness but just the right kind of off-kilter. I can't award it for anything but mild surprise, but it's the hairiest of hair metal and that remains an objective good.
First track had me ready for an electro album. Then the classic rock kicked in.
I enjoyed the attitude and musicality of what I managed to listen to... will come back to this
Sounds like a local high school band, some catchy tunes though
Yeah, this is great. Due to the fatal car incident with their drummer and the Motley Crue singer, I somehow always associated this band with MC and never paid it the attention it deserves. Turns out: it does not have those silly glam rock sing along refrains, but it is much more rock n roll: think New York Dolls a decade earlier. My bad.
This some kind of joke? FAIL
I think I can do without this.
Non sono malaccio, ma nemmeno molto particolari.
Never listened to this band, but this is stupid glam metal and I am absolutely here for it. This was better than I thought and influenced Poison/Motley Crue and others. Great album as long as you are willing to have fun with it.
Un poco aburrido (LNB)
2.5 Quite poppy, rock'n rolly, glam rock.
Pretty cool considering how old
No.
I feel like Hanoi rocks is a classic band in legendary status. Maybe I wasn’t in the best mindset to listen to this but I wasn’t really into it. Seemed like a creative test almost
Glam rock! Het kan goed uitpakken of het kan echt niks zijn.
Nee, blegh!
Eens maar nooit meer.
Ach, best vrolijk en energiek.
Feels a very average 80s hair metal album, not sure why it’s on the list.
I saw a Finnish band from the 80s and thought another tedious Gen X nostalgia thing that sucks, but I actually kinda liked this one
Very mediocre. Nothing stood out.
Fun, but not particularly unique or outstanding
Uninteresting. Didn't finish this one.
Had some high points, but many low points. Far too many pitch changes, like a forerunner to shit boy bands in the 2000s.
Bland. Nothing special. 2.5/5
Standouts: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Until I Get you Somewhere between hair-band and punk falls Hanoi rocks.... 3/5
Listened Before? N Hmmm... this is an interesting take on glam metal/hard rock from the early 80s. Their look was refined to almost an early-90s state, but the music is much harder and less harmonic than those late hair metal guys. It was okay, but nothing really stood out to me. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: none because it's not available on Amazon.
Meh.
inspid
Never heard of this band before, but seeing THAT haircut, I had a rough idea what I was in for. This is pretty much everything I hate about 80s hair rock, not sure how it ended up on the list. Plenty of power chords and badly written lyrics. "Beating Gets Faster" is a prime example of that. Is "Lick Summer Love" written from the point of view of a rapist? Creepy AF
Пока что бови тока пожиже и панк Не понимаю, чем хочет быть этот альбом Странные копии разных больших артистичных 70-80х Не знаю, как альбом оказался в этом списке вообще
Ни один альбом ещё не сумел меня разозлить так сильно, как этот. Жалкое подражание звуку рока 80х, которое наскучивает уже на втором треке, потому что абсолютно никак не развивается и звучит совершенно неинтересно и забито до смерти. Чуть до смерти не был и забит и я, потому что этот альбом наскучивает так сильно, что мне в кои-то веки захотелось, чтобы альбом закончился побыстрее. Единственный хороший момент был, когда солист назвал кого-то сукой, я хихикнул. (3)
red leicester, wensleydale, gouda, roquefort, stinking bishop and Hanoi Rocks. a selection of cheeses. after 5 songs this got incredibly tiring.
Anyone giving this 5 stars needs to get off the smack and stop noncing monkeys in Belize
Good, just not my style at all
Shit 80s arena rock
hard to rank when half the album is missing
This was some pretty bland glam rock but until I get you saved most of the album. Otherwise nothing really notable
Oh boy, first look at this sleeve, this record's gonna be so bad! And frankly, I'm proven a bit wrong. It's pretty generic rock, doesn't really wow me. Just a few likeable tracks at most, Until I Get You being the standout. If you don't expect to be blown away, it's actually pretty all right. Just fun tracks. Key tracks: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Mental Beat, Until I Get You, Beating Gets Faster, 7 out of 10
Shit was ass
Overall a good album, but there's nothing that's super special about it. Very 80s, something you might hear on radio. Other than that, it was an alright listen but none of the songs really struck me differently. Fave track(s): Mental Beat
Actually pretty fun, albeit with no standout tracks.
Aika hyvä! On visiota. Ei kuitenkaan hyvää nauhoituksen ja miksauksen laatua. Yksi sympatiatähti suomalaisesta kasarista.
Tämä LP on uskomattoman huonosti tuotettu, ja Andyn sanoitukset kuulostavat - sori mutta siitä ei pääse yli eikä ympäri - noloilta. Melodisesti kappaleissa on koukkuakin, tosin ripoteltuna rakenteisiin, jotka ovat - jälleen oi, niin Andymäisesti - ylisävellettyjä. Ja loppujen lopuksi on vaikeaa mitenkään erityisen brutaalisti arvioida levyä, jonka biisit jäävät soimaan päähän (vai muistanko ne vain lapsuudestani).
Found it to be more entertaining than expected. Solid bass.
Not bad, but I don't see why this album belongs on the list.
Somehow derivative of 80s pastiche only 3 years into the decade, this album manages to bring in all of the hokey harmonica and tiring vocal antics one would expect and then beat them to death over the course of 40 minutes. Not really any creative ideas here outside of some faint interest in the intro, and that's damning praise at best.
Didn't hate it but its a one and done.
Catchy and fun at first but it sounds the same throughout and the lyrics almost couldn’t be worse. 4/10
7/10. I thought this was pretty cool. Only gets a 7, but it's like the 7 I gave Bat Out Of Hell where it's way more interesting than a 7, but that doesn't actually make me like it enough to be an 8.
Didn't strike me as particularly influential but it was fun and short. 7/10
Увидев столько негативных отзывов, я испугалась, но послушав мне понравилось Прикольный глэмрок какой то Звучит приятно
мне вообще не понравился, какой-то очереднярский альбом в списке 1001 лучших, если тут есть он, и нет ни одного альбома плейбой карти, то я советую автору провести работу по реставрации своего искусства.
This felt fluffy and unnecessary.
Partway between glam rock and glam metal. Pretty fun
Jaunty 80s rock and roll which is pretty entertaining throughout and Rosalita is a classic track.
Glam rock
Entretenido
Just average. Didn't expect too much. Didn't get too much.
The image source of 80s hair metal, have to give props to Hanoi Rocks over that at least. Had no idea they were Finnish which is cool. Musically speaking it was better than expected as I thought it was gonna be along the lines of Bon Jovi or Poison. Some solid tracks here, especially Malibu Beach Nightmare and Tootin Bec Hec. Was a bit same old as it progressed, but it doesn't appear to be their biggest album, so am tempted to listen to some more Hanoi.
ändå ganska gött emellanåt
most of the album is not available. what I heard wasn't bad, very bowie like
Meh
A strong first half
Everything I hate about 80s rock wrapped up in one easily demonstrable package
Sometimes familiar, sometimes unique, sometimes a bit cheesy. An all around fun album.
Pretty good compared to most of the mid 80s European post punk that we absolutely HAVE to listen to
This would be a fun, 3 star-worthy album if it were just some guys from, like, Branson Missouri. The fact that they're from Finland bumps it up to 4 stars for me. They do such an excellent job of imitating/replicating that early 80's American sound of punk-leading-into-glam-rock. It's good!
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Tooting bec wreck
Really fun glam that isn't overly-obnoxious. Standout is "Sailing Down the Tears".
I'd like to preface by saying I have no clue why this album is on this list. It's the most steretypical rock album I've ever heard. My only thought was that perhaps it was ahead of its time, but it's from '83, so if anything it's behind it's time, so I can only assume it's because of the former Mott the Hoople production that got it on here. Other than that the album is alright. It's not like it's a bad album, just a boring one. Like a boring early Alice Cooper album. I'm still gonna give it three stars because I did find myself sometimes bobbing my head or just enjoying it, and the vocals are different enough, I suppose. It's a very light three, though.
Ei mun genre, mut ihan mielenkiintoista perehtyä lähemmin tähän aika tuntemattomaksi jääneeseen bändiin, ihan ok. Eka suomalainen levy!
Känns son The Hives har hittat inspiration från detta finska band. Tror att plattan behöver ett par lyssningar för att sätta sig.
Meh
One of few occasions where I'd say that Vice City missed out not adding tracks from this album
Nothing of note to be honest - all a bit samey apart from the intro track.
I am not sure how groundbreaking this is, considering the other records on the list that kind of fill the same void. I definitely enjoyed it more in the second half, though. Some genuinely catchy melodies there.
Pretty raucous affair - rock with a distinctive 80s sound, plenty of power guitar solos and fevered drum fills. Some of the lyrics were a little twee for my ears...
Not good at all.
Nothing exciting
Superbes coiffures, musique moyenne
j'ai peu de choses à dire
Rough stuff idk
Pretty fun
Fine - probably wouldn't listen again, but didn't dislike it.
Thought it was fairly "meh" for glam rock. Didn't particularly dislike it but nothing stood out either.
I've got a soft spot for 80s glam rock. Lot of this sounds like it could be on a GTA vice city radio station and that's no bad thing Tacky but enjoyed it!
Maybe it’s because I had to listen to it on you tube instead of iTunes but it got old kinda quickly.
Finnish glam rock, and it was actually decent. Will wonders never cease?
Standard 80s rock - very listenable Quality fell off after first three songs
For this to be one of the albums I have to listen to before I die, it is not easy to find on some services. However, after work - it is very glam 80s rock - which can be fun when you are in the mood for it.
Came in not expecting very much and that's exactly what I got.
bland
Late-to-the-game 70s style glam rock from 1983.... which I have nothing against. What I have something against is the lack of good songwrighting. Nothing here makes me want to listen to this again. 2/5
Interesting album. Couldn’t get into it, but I get the appeal frm the point of someone who appreciates rock/metal ina different way than I do.
Chips and hooks and charisma
The Mystery: What would it sound like if Poison made a Replacements album? The Answer: This record.
Big hair, big riffs, big fun. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Malibu Beach Nightmare Date listened: 31/08/22
Gets a lot of hate, but enjoyed the ride
Really great stuff. It’s a shame I can’t listen to Apple Music. YouTube ads kind of ruined the flow a bit but there’s some killer tracks on here!
Me pareció un tanto punk
Get ekki sagt að þetta finnska 80s hár-rokk hafi heillað mig mikið.
Really enjoyed this punkish dose of proto hair metal.
Was a solid rock album. Pretty generic sounding for the era.
Pretty good actually 3 Love it 4
Finnish proto-hair band with trademarked 80s harmonica and sax riffs? I’m here for that!
I spent my entire 8 hours of work listening to just this artist.... good stuff
Pretty good, enjoyed the listen. Straight forward rock album from the early 80’s with a heavy lyrics toward California
3.7 - Finnish hair metal?! Well, not really. Actually I'd say this album draws much more heavily from glam and New York punk, thankfully. In fact, at times they sound like a tribute band to Television or some outfit. Still, the playing is proficient, the songwriting and performance loaded with swagger. I especially like the "lick the lips between your legs" moment at the end of "Lick of Summer." Definitely a curiosity worth revisiting down the line.
Who knew they were Finnish? The band is exceedingly poorly packaged and one wonders who the band is for. They look like glam-hair metalists (e.g., Motley Crue, Ratt), but then shift into much looser and more tuneful cuts, with indie, roots and roadhouse inflections. Not that it’s great – it’s frequently bashing and the lyrics are rudimentary – like childhood limerick rudimentary (maybe because ESL because Finnish). The rolling pianos and honking saxes are nice touches, but there’s a drum break that was surely lifted from the Bay City Rollers. And too often the band reverts to metal posturing (sometimes in the same songs with more promising alt-y hooks). “Tooting Bec Wreck” is almost indie rock in orientation, like the Replacements on a well organized day. “Sailing Down” is molten and plenty metal for one’s tastes. It’s also brief, which one likes, and surprisingly good doesn’t necessarily equate to great. Plus, serious points off for paving the way to hair metal.
This is pretty bland and generic, though its not as much of a torture session as yesterday's
This album is for somebody sadly that somebody is not me... the intro was composed as if it was intended as background music for an 80s ren-fair and frankly I would have enjoyed this album more if the rest of the songs carried a similar theme as to the intro. Continuing on, if you were expecting anything more then VERY 80s hairband love sick puppy vibes then you are in luck this album is not for you however if you somehow find yourself enjoying the assault on your Tympanic membrane and singing along well... dang... I applaud your resilience and grit.
Cheesy but good rock
Ok.
Very ska-punkish
Seems to be an influence for 90s rock. Has some good parts, interesting to listen to.
A couple catchy tracks (the last three) but no real head turners
hair band 80's sound. Not very distinctive to me, just okay.
This is not what I thought Hanoi Rocks was going to sound like. Am I crazy? As a glam rock consumer of the mid to late 80s, I thought they arrived much later than they actually did. So this is kind of a nice surprise, though still pretty thin. Engaging songs, but nothing that made me want to hear it twice.
Hell yes. Toes that very fine line between shambolic and inspired, a sleazy, poppy, dirty little diamond that draws equally on punk and glam heritage. 'Mental Beat' is a brilliant track. You know why? Because it's basically 'Next Big Thing' by the Dictators, which also ruled. They wrote 'Lick Summer Love' themselves though, which also smokes. Great record!
This was fun! And then Vince Neil killed their drummer.
Pretty unoffenssive rock. It's fine but not particularly great.
I know Hanoi Rocks from the "Peacemaker" show. So I was kinda prepared for HR... ...what I was not prepared for was the fact that I was going to actually like the album. Yeah, it's very 80s, but it hit something in me that I kinda was missing. I really kinda dug it. Can't explain, really, Maybe it was the other stuff I was listening to previously today, I don't know. But I really enjoyed it.
Um, interesting choice for this list. I have never heard of Hanoi Rocks but they aren't terrible. This album feels like one on your guilty pleasure list - don't really want to tell anyone you like it but deep down there's something about it that you're drawn to. For that reason, it gets an average rating. But nothing more. I just can't justify a higher rating for a fun sounding album by, from what I can tell, just another 80's glam rock band with some tragedy. Really don't know why they're on this list.
“Don’t Judge a Book by its cover” is a common saying and one thing that I have learned is that the same saying can be applied to albums as well. This album was a lot better than I expected although I admit I set the bar down to the Poison / Warrant level (based of course on the cover). It’s not a great album but it was a fun listen, and the songs and musicianship were better than I expected. The style was sort of a glam-punk thing. Not my type of music normally so I probably won't revisit it and I don’t see why it is considered important enough to be on the list. Maybe because they were a Finnish band? I’d say a solid 2.5 rounded up to 3 because I found the Wikipedia story about the lead singer getting spit on in Israel because they thought he was an improperly dressed woman kind of funny.
Don’t bother
Didnt really grab me
This is a weird album. It seems as though Hanoi Rocks was unsure of what kind of band they were. It's glam, it's rock, it's pop, it's punk. It's a really odd, and at times exceptionally awkward, stew of genre tropes and my initial impressions were not good, to be honest. But, as the album progressed, it started to win me over. "Back to Mystery City" is very strange but, on balance, it's fun and interesting. I think the novelty is worth a star.
The five songs I was able to listen to on Spotify were fine
Rock is my bag, but this is not. Very forgettable!
An odd kind fusion of glam rock and punk. I mean, it wasn't bad by any means but probably won't be in my rotation.
Album is on YouTube Music for those missing tracks on Spotify.
Good last song.... why is this on the list?
Long time music listener, first time glam rock enjoyer. Seriously, the 80s form of glam rock has never really jelled with me, but *man* did I enjoy this album. Sounds like it was made for huge stages and big festivals, insert your own crowd chanting while listening. I'm not sure if it's the use of the name "Rosalita" and the killer saxophone solo in "Ice Cream Summer", but man, it sounds just like Springsteen went glam. Early on in the record, I thought, "this isn't bad," and near the end I was super into it. Fuck it. I'm feeling generous tonight. Favorite tracks: "Mental Beat", "Tooting Bec Wreck", "Beating Gets Faster", "Ice Cream Summer"
Harmless fun
Terrible album! How does this at all belong on this list. I don't care who it allegedly inspired. It is a badly badly mixed album and bad music. I can't understand why this is on here. These are the albums that make me consider if this project is even worth finishing. I mean it's so bad Spotify doesn't have half the songs and whoever made the YouTube playlist couldn't even be bothered enough to put playlist the right way up so I heard the first 5 seconds of each song at least twice. Xbox 360 headsets had better audio quality than the mics they used to record this album. I am still hesitant to give it a 1 because there are worse albums, but I am just so tired of getting so many bad albums so it gets what it gets.
Competent fun rock, not really anything special
It tinges with hair metal production and punk music. It sadly doesn’t do either of these things very well. To quote NOFX “I don’t think Hanoi Rocks.”
min første tanke va at detta såg plagsomt ut va heldigvis litt bedre men ikkje så veldig likte tooting bec wrecked for den va litt joy division aktig i starten
Greit nok
This was something of a throwback to my past and though enjoyable it feels old, like me.
Most enjoyable.
Really enjoyed "Tooting Bec Wreck" some of the other songs were ok.
nah
Hard rock, tunge trommer, rimelig skinger vokal, et par okay numre
Scores low on the 'why is it on the list' scale (as far as I can tell it's special because... they're from Finland?) Gains back 2.5 stars for some rather fun and catchy glam rock bops.
Ok.
I really need to stop judging a book by its cover. This band looks terrible by all accounts and I was ready to hit the 1, maaaybe 2 star button. Boy was I wrong, this wasn't 80s synth heavy glam, but a rock album through and through. Fast guitars, driving drums, a singer that can belt, this was a fun listen to aside from one or two songs that didn't land. Hanoi Rocks sounds like what Kiss looks like.
Dude whatever. This is absolutely not something you need to listen to before you die. This is something you find in your dad's CD rack and even he would be like "I don't remember this one". A 2/5 since I don't actually hate the songs here, they're really simple and kind of boring, but I can still listen to them. I'm mostly just baffled at why this was included.
The only possible reason this could be on this list is because the author has some nostalgic memories of listening to this while drinking beer in the parking lot after high school with his buddies or something. This is pretty bland and generic glam rock.
Never even heard of this band but damn if this album wasn't a lot of fun.
Normally I wouldn't give the time of day to heavy guitar oriented rock from the early 80s but something about this caught my interest. At the end of the day I'm happy Spotify had only half the tunes available since I would have likely got bored if I had to listen to an hour of this.
It's interesting that, in Wikipedia, featured prominently in the lead paragraph of the review of this album is the fact that one of their (studio) back-up singers had also sang back-up on one of Pink Floyd's albums - wow!!! And the only reviews offered up are negative. The hooks are cliched, they are more pre-occupied with their looks than the music, the commercial rock sound was pretty dead by '83 and . Another questionable 1001 selection!
The album cover jarred me back to some bad 80s clubs and parties that involved dubious fashion choices. There were some moments in the 80s that are best forgotten and this album is on that list. Like WTF were they thinking back then? Cheesy, cliched lyrics and licks that add nothing to music history IMO and I can't understand for the life of me why this album is on this list.
Nothing special, had to listen via YouTube which is never a good experience
Very inoffensive in what feels like a novel way.
Only thing I know about this band is that their drummer was the guy Vince Neil killed. This is mostly glammed up new wave - I was expecting hair metal, which would have been preferable. Amateur hour. 2.5/5.
Pretty good. A cross between punk rock and a hair band…glam rock?
Better than I expected, influences of/on the clash, manics, ultrasound, maybe even the jam. Didn't know they were Finnish before this, makes them roughly 77% more interesting!
p508. 1983. 3 stars. Above average rock band with glitter and a sly sense of humour. A refreshing change from the 80's synths at the time. You can see where The Killers got their inspiration from. Well done of its kind, but it's hardly essential listening.
They do rock. Classic 80s hairball tunes.
Never really listened to this band before, Slightly better than expected - more rock n roll, as I was expecting a Poison vibe. Seems like a band that could have been huge with some really good production - where’ Rick Rubin? I liked “Sailing down the Tears”, rest is good, but not good enough to bump to a four.
meh glam rock. Must've been a bummer to listen to the radio in the 80's. Can respect that they became an influence for later Glam bands that were better in my opinion.
This is music that a band would play in a cutaway gag from 30 Rock. Gotta respect that man’s hair tho.
Another reviewer describes this album as "dumb glam." I mean, yeah. Isn't it great? Well, I had a blast listening to this album, but it turns out if you're listening on Spotify, this is not Back to Mystery City. About half the tracks are mislabeled. With a little digging on YouTube, you should be able to find the others. These are the actual songs Spotify shows as being on the album: 1) Strange Boys Play Weird Openings; 2) Malibu Beach Nightmare; 3) Mental Beat; 4) Don't You Ever Leave Me (mislabeled); 5) Lost in the City (mislabeled); 6) First Timer (mislabeled); 7) Cheyenne (mislabeled); 8) Beating Gets Faster; 9) Ice Cream Summer; 10) Back to Mystery City. In spite of the annoyance of having to find the right tracks, I really enjoyed listening to this. Hanoi Rocks gets associated so much with 80s glam metal that I was expecting not to like this, but they're better than a lot of those bands. This album has a Mott-Meets-Sweet-Meets-New York Dolls vibe to it, ramshackle but with a surprising pop sensibility. The songs are glammy and trashy and tongue in cheek, all of it in good fun. Fave Songs: Tooting Bec Wreck, Beating Gets Faster, Until I Get You, Ice Cream Summer, Mental Beat, Malibu Beach Nightmare
this is from the 80s
03/23/22
I mean...I didn't HATE it, but I can't say there was anything memorable about this album for me. I guess my fave track was Malibu Beach Nightmare, and I have a memory of liking the first few tracks MUCH more than the second half of the album. Not a BAD album but would never re listen.
Basic glam rock from the 80s. Nothing special. Reminded me of The Clash sometimes.
Non descript inoffensive and ultimately unremarkable hard Rock. 2.5 🌟
I enjoyed this more than I feel I "should" do (or expected to, for that matter). I think I just admire the sheer unlikeliness of a Finnish band writing a song about Tooting Bec.
Not as bad as I expected. But still bad..
Well, this is mock rock at iut's worst I think, a pastiche of the New York Dolls, with sub Sex Pistols and Adam and the Ants. I get a Mott the Hoople without the talent or irony vibe. (Not surprising as it was produced by Dale Griffin & Overend Watts) I can get what they were trying to do but for me it is a mediocre punk/glam offering. If I had to choose a favourite Track it would be the title track. Not one for me I am afraid.
Kinda fun. Not a fan of the glam subgenre but this felt kinda different. Love the random ass use of horns.
This is a sleazy unremarkable glamrock album which grabs their influences from Alice Cooper to the New York Dolls. The songs are very stock-standard, 13-in-a-dozen. Never bad, but never achieving anything more than mediocrity. Thus far, 50 albums in, I have the feeling that the creators of the list of 1001 albums you must hear before you die never really enjoyed hard rock much because the inclusion of the albums are terrible, even though there's so much greatness to be found in the genre.
This is the fourth album from the rock band Hanoi Rocks, and it was moderately successful. This band is from Finland so English is not their native tongue, and you can sorta tell by listening to the lyrics. The songs did not contain any memorable hooks, but did have some good guitar playing. This is a good album to listen to if you want to know what 80's hard rock sounds like through a Finnish filter. However, I will not listen to it again.
Solid album. Finland represent.
Hanoi rocks ROCKS!!!!
Might be the only Finnish album on here. Gotta respect it
Rock on!
I guess good for them for figuring out the 80s rock sound by 1983. It's pretty middle of the road, wouldn't turn it off but wouldn't turn it up
Somewhat generic post punk sounds.
it was veryyy hardcore. I didn’t hate it i thought it was loud and cool but it didn’t have like a click or something specific i liked about it.
Wow. This seems...random. For years my only exposure to Hanoi Rocks was from the car accident with Motley Crue (I can only hope they're not on this list) that killed their drummer. A bit of reading shows these guys (from Finland) were *hugely* influential on the early 80s hard rock scene, bringing a mix of glam and metal. Ok cool music history moment but what about the music? Yes as it turns out this has a strong early 80s sound but it's more Bowie+New York Dolls+Poison. If that's your bag. Aside from the fact that this sounds like a demo (I'm reminded of Van Halen's unreleased mid-70s demo that sounds similar yet better than this) the album is filled with simple melodies and predictable if not bad good-time party hooks, it's.... fine. So why is this on the 1001 list? Influence? I could be mean and complain that bands that merely influenced some emerging trends but weren't any good themselves should probably not be on this list (...but then i'd just be talking about the horrific abomination that were the Velvet Underground and that's playing dirty). "Sailing Down The Tears" sounds like a coke-fueled bash with Slash playing aside a drunk Alice Cooper. To sum up: this sounds like a good high school band that played their dance in 1983 and then should have gone to college and gotten better at songwriting instead of becoming Poison a few years later. 3/10 2 very dim and generous stars: early 80s "hard rock" for 13 year olds. At least there's melody.
Considering I don't ever listen to glam rock, this is probably one of my favorites in the genre. Especially because of the punk sound they have. I look forward to checking out their other records.
Mah mah mah maaaa rosalitaaaaa Loved the classic rock vibes, really great album 4/5
Generic.
Nothing special and like half the songs were missing on spotify
Maybe it's a blessing that this full album wasn't available on Spotify. And maybe that means Neil Young and Joni Mitchell were involved with this band. I certainly know I heard enough that I didn't need to seek the full album elsewhere.
Normalnie byłoby 4, ale 5 za kickoff ;-)
Muy bueno
Meh. I like the beats but the lyrics are rather cheeseball
Looked intimidating but was good!
Fun glam rock album! Way to go Finland!
Um yeah, not too sure. Some sort of 80s punk/hair metal from Finland. If this has any relevance to the world of music, it must be lost on my ill-informed ears, but this could safely have never been made.
LOVED IT
Better than expected
If I judged this record by the album cover photo alone, I would had given this a hard pass! It was produced by a couple ex-Mott the Hooples (NOT Ian Hunter or Mick Ronson), so it slightly has their sound, as well as maybe the NY Dolls and some riffs from the Dictators, though not done nearly as good as those bands. Parody at best, I expected worse, but they can still go back to mystery city, please.
Eh.
Nothing groundbreaking
Interesting story, I was only vaguely aware of this band and no idea they were from Finland. But album is pretty average
Must admit I only ever knew the story of Razzle and didn't bother to ever listen to this band. Coming from Sweden or Switzerland or wherever it was I guess what they did was different, but I feel like many other LA bands were doing this genre much better than Hanoi Rocks were at the time.
5/10
Hanoi Rocks delivers a delightfully catchy glam rock record, with favorites coming out of 'Until I Get You' and 'Mental Beat'. The arrangements are quite methodical and measured, with Razzle's familiar classic rock drum patterns fastening the album. A Finnish band singing in English could make you mistake Hanoi Rocks for a Brit band, which affords it extra substance as a generally pleasant listen.
enjoyed it a lot
I liked this more than I expected to based on the cover. It was actually pretty enjoyable.
Nice hardrock
It's decent rock 'n' roll. Absolutely listenable. I love the descriptions of the songs on Wikipedia maybe more than the songs themselves. They certainly enhanced the experience. I think I liked "Tooting Bec Wreck" the best. Synthesizer, rats, drugs, and a great neighborhood name.
Some rock from the 80s. I wasn’t a big fan of similar music in the 80s and I guess I am still not. It doesn’t offend my delicate sensibilities, and it doesn’t stand out as something that I will listen to again.
I'd never heard of Hanoi Rocks. I think I would have really loved this album 30 years ago when I was listening to L.A. Guns and Motley Crue. I really liked Malibu Beach Nightmare and Back to Mystery City and, to a lesser extent, Mental Beat. The others felt like a bit of a slog for me.
I loved this album, even though the first time I listened to it tracks 2-8 were not the correct songs. Seems Apple Music has the wrong songs associated with tracks 4-8 were the wrong songs. Whatever songs those were I listened to the first time sounded like Hanoi Rocks and I really liked them... After re-listening with the correct tracks (than you YouTube): I LOVE THIS ALBUM. This band is really amazing. Some pretty strong rock tracks in here ("Malibu Beach Nightmare") with some punk and glam and 50s stuff - all blended together into BACK TO MYSTERY CITY. There are touches of Queen, Meat Loaf, the B-52s, the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack - all have done some similar mixing before… What's great here is Hanoi Rocks has their own spin on these winning combinations. I loved every song on here. The styles varied a bit but still felt like a cohesive album. Some wild fun sound-effect shenanigans in the opening and scattered here and there - like the farm animals in "Tooting Bec Wreck", the spacey echoey effects in "Until I Get You,” the bells in “Ice Cream Summer.” Well done without being overdone. This is some of the best punk/rock/glam/50's style music around. I wish I had discovered them in the 80s as I think it would have enhanced my adolescence. Nevertheless lots of fun now, the lyrics were interesting, and I will listen to this often. And after being exposed to some additional Hanoi Rocks through the misidentified mystery tracks, will follow up with some more of their albums. HANOI ROCKS ROCKS!
Has a razor-thin punk edge to the glam rock that this definitely is. Malibu Beach Nightmare has a Ramones surfer music vibe and then weird rockabilly harmonica but it's a banger. They are somehow 'heavier' than more traditionally melodic glam rock whilst still having a very intense 80s vocal curl. Lick Summer Love is a horrendously rapey narrative in the way that the 80s kind of excused a lot in media. Beating Gets Faster has a Blue Oyster Cult feel that really stands out. The good - Malibu Beach Nightmare, Beating Gets Faster, Back to Mystery City. The low - Lick Summer Love
Better than I expected, influences of/on the clash, manics, ultrasound, maybe even the jam. Didn't know they were Finnish before this, makes them 77% more interesting!
Bleh. Boring rock from the 80s
Pues bien, lo escuché de fondo, mientras trabajaba y no logró cautivarme. Me llamaron la atención solamente "Lick Summer Love" y la canción titular. De ahí en fuera, yo creo que okay sin aplausos. 7/10
It is catchy rock n roll, and maybe a few more listens might endear it to me, but for the moment so-so 3stars
80s cheese
Sounds a bit like the clash. Strong bass. But... Kinda sounds basic.
Not really sure how this made it onto the 1001 list, but I can only assume it's bribery.
I feel like this might be the album that created pop punk (as opposed to punk or new wave). Whether that is a good thing or not, I leave to you. I must be honest, it did very little for me... I can see how it might have been important, but it's too affected, too studied to do anything for me. A lot of the noises are right, but they feel constrained by a hideous politeness.
Never even heard of this bunch before. Nice fun glam mental album.
really plain hair-metal
Didn’t hear anything that interested me, sounded like very underwhelming generic late 80s/90s rock BUT then I saw the date and the fact that this inspired a lot of future bands like Guns N’ Roses. Still very underwhelming, but 2 stars instead of 1 for being ahead of its time.
Some I liked and some I didn't. 0RS
Very much reflective of the time -- early 80s rock/pop -- and I can see why it would popular. Didn't really do it for me, though. Not sure exactly why, but part of has to with the feeling I get when listening to most of their songs that there's just too much going on and not often in a way that brings it all together.
Not call album on spotify
Not even their most popular album. Very very generic 80s pop
Da Da Da Da Da Uh! Da Da Da Da Da Uh! Dubček, Dubček, Dubček, Mao Tse-tung, King Kong etc. geben mehr als 1.1
Finnlands Antwort auf Mötley Crüe, ich hatte mich bisschen darauf gefreut, die auf der Bahnfahrt zur Arbeit zu hören. Schön raunchy/horny sich im Regionalexpress nach L.A. denken, den inneren Kajal am Anschlag und so. War aber Fehlanzeige wegen schlimmer Langeweile. Konventioneller hätten die Sounds nicht gehen können, und Texte wie aus ner Bravo-Fotolovestory. Totale Enttäuschung.
Aika tyhjänpäiväistä pehmorokkia. Vaikka onkin suomalainen bändi, niin ei pysty ihan kolmosta antamaan.
Vaikka kuinka suomilasein yrittää katsoa niin vähän keskinkertaiseksi rokkipläjäykseksi tämä jää. Ei sinänsä häiritsevää, mutta ei kyllä millään tavalla innostavaa tai mielenkiintoistakaan. Oikeastaan ainoa biisi joka jollain tavalla herätti mielenkiinnon oli Back To Mystery Cityn demoversio. Varmaan siinä oli enemmän rockmeininkiä kuin muussa levyssä, joka toisinaan kuulosti häiritsevän siloitellulta ja lattealta. Peruskolmonen.
Non descript inoffensive and ultimately unremarkable hard Rock. 2.5 🌟
ну штош, со значимыми альбомами закончили, теперь можно и к финскому глэм-роцку... ...че это за хуйня, блять?) какие-то скандинавы, которые назвались в честь вьетнамской столицы (у них и про бангкок альбом есть, кста), поют про пляжи малибу, на фоне петух блять кукарекает (натурально). Ну я хз, короче, че тут оценивать, и что вообще оно делает в этом списке, ну три нормальных песни есть (Until I Get You, Beating Gets Faster и финальная Back to Mystery City), остальное какая-то странная чепуха, думал хоть веселья глэмового завезут и хуков запоминающихся, но чет нет. Ну 4/10, это никуда не годится
Buen disco de rock guitarrero con canciones rítmicas y sonando mucho a glam-rock. Alegre y con chispa. No inventan nada, pero saben utilizar el género
had never heard this album - and i may well have heard of these guys, but gotten them mixed up with saigon kick, which would most certainly have tainted my view of them. good to have that cleared up. this was fun - and super cool that these guys are finns, to boot.
Tie back my cyst, Troy! This was woeful
Rather enjoyed this album.
Definitely an 80s feel but not really good 80s. I was not familiar with any of the songs. No need to listen to again.
Feels like these dudes really wanted to make fun of shitty 80's rock so they made an album of all shitty 80's rock. Respect. UPDATE: Ripping on glam rock by making parody glam rock still means you made glam rock.
Overall I liked it. Not amazing but ok.
Back to Mystery City fait une entrée fracassante dans le classement des albums avec une pochette moche.
every other song is not available on spotify, how annoying. nice intro, deceiving probably. first song is okay, not crazy about it. same goes for the rest of the songs on the album. nothing special. lick summer love is the only song i like a little bit more and its not on spotify :/
I don't think I've heard of this band before, and all of the music seemed new. There was some decent rock on this album. There were tracks that hinted at hair metal of the 80s ("Strange Boys Play Weird Openings") and other tracks that fit in with tracks from Billy Idol ("Back to Mystery City"). The album was okay, but I don't think I'd ever sit down to listen to the whole album again.
Some solid 80s rock 'n' roll. 7.9/10
You wanna talk 80s as pejorative? How about 80s as performative? I think what’s missed by the received wisdom that Hair Metal was an aberration is the fact that they actually embodied the fun that they had physically in their music. And just because something’s fun, doesn’t strip it of merit. Quite the opposite. Fun is essential. That being said, it has to be paired with at least one memorable song. This felt like musical candy floss without the aftertaste. Which is to say I remember snaffling down on it and getting a kick at the time. I couldn’t hum you a single snatch of a single song now, though.
Cute Finnish New York Dolls impresarios. Their English is as good as Johansen's but their joi de vivre duller, identity crises absent and wildness overwhelmed by too much attention on 'the look' and too little on gay abandon. Tooting Bec Wreck is a passable Stranded in the Jungle imitation though. Let's hope we get In Too Much Too Soon next so we can see how this shit's really done.
Not very fond of the genre
2/5
Très sympa n'en deplaise à l'horrible Rob Wuppert qui n'aura décidément jamais rien compris à la musique
Could only listen to a couple songs on Spotify. The two songs were good though
Fun at times, but annoying at more times than that. It felt like the guitars and vola swere fighting against each other rather than complementing each other.
Heavy rock, cercano al metal a veces. No me dice nada ni me atrae el sonido. Olvidable
It only let me hear like 3 songs, they were alright i guess
Not a huge fan of hair metal, other than the aesthetics, but this album was a pleasant surprise.
A decent listen, Lots of the bands I used to listen to would name these guys as among their influences, but I have never got around to checking them out. I quite like, it didn't sound as dated as I expected, and the songs are really catchy. It does all get a bit samey quite quickly though.
better than expected
Spotify only gave me a few songs from this album to listen to? And what I did listen to, I wasn't a fan of.
Nothing too special but some enjoyable glammy punk. I managed to get the whole album on YouTube as Spotify didn't have it all
I'm genuinely confused by this album, or at least its inclusion on this list. Nothing I heard seemed new, novel, or influential. The recording quality was mediocre, and song writing basic, the execution lukewarm. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think I'll be listening again to find out.
rock. from the 80s. some songs missing on spotify. nothing lifechanging
rock de los ochenta. No esta mal.
Bad 80s Glam. The sound of doing blow off of a Macy's credit card
Ice Cream Summer sounds like Weezer. Rest of album is just okay but heard worse on this list.
Everything that I love about rock!
more 80's meh... at least it doesn't have those synths
I was going to give a two, but then when I heard the saxophone I decided to add another star.
This album is like a ridiculous self-parody of glam rock. The standard "Back to Mystery City" formula is awkward lyrics hurled over milquetoast guitar riffs with a surprising amount of passion and absolutely zero self-awareness.
not my cup of tea but had some enjoyable moments
Zu alter Rock.
Competent.
Meh
Another familiar name with little context that comes to mind. Finnish glam rock? Extra points for weirdness, especially in the first half, and a really first tier album title.
Dumb glam that doesn't really go anywhere or do much interesting. A couple of fun hooks
As far as I know they did not have any hit in the Netherlands. Had never heard of them. The album had a glamor rock sound especially the song 'Back to Mystery City'. That song sounded to me a lot like Mony Mony by Tommy James and the The Shondells.
Kinda felt like generic punk rock.
FInnish glam rock. Surprisingly enjoyable. Need to dig deeper into these guys.
Record is good but the album they did after this one has way more bangers on it. Very underrated band but didn't age as well as Motley Crue.
Enjoyable but not enough to leave a lasting impression
Ok, nothing amazing
Not on Spotify, and the track order is backwards on the YouTube playlist. Fuck you, nerds. This guys hair is so amazing. I wish I had enough hair to rock that look. This is an otherwise solid rock and roll album from the 80s. Definitely worth the listen.
Interesting Finnish Glam Rock before the time thought would be there. Not my jam.
Not my thing.
3.5
1984. Key Songs: Malibu Beach Nightmare, Back To Mystery City
Je ne connaissais pas, ça rock !
Gosh early 80s hair metal was terrible