Rock N Roll is the business….and business is good
There was a documentary about Heavy Metal a few years ago. On it Rob Zombie made the not unreasonable point that heavy metal was the biggest thing in the world that people didn’t know about.
In microcosm that can also be applied to Nicke Andersson.
Outside of the circles that buy into – and buy – his wonderful music, whether it was the Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric or even in his soul band The Solution, far too few know of his genius (an apt word).
Andersson isn’t in Grande Royale but his stamp is all over “Breaking News”, recording it and producing it and telling the band to “worry about the hooks.”
And my, how they must have fretted, because it sounds perfect. The point is here that the Producer can do only so much, but it’s the band that has to make the record and, brother “Breaking News” rules.
GR’s third album is their best by a mile. That much is obvious from the first few seconds of “Know It All”. Acquiring bonus points for starting with a guitar solo, it is a perfect slice of timeless rock n roll.
It is not the only one.
“Brake Light” might add a bass groove, but it is imbued with the hedonistic glee that everything else here possesses. “Devil’s Place” is rock n roll perfection in two and a half minutes. Sounding like an outtake from Kiss’ “Rock N Roll Over”, it would be the best thing here if it wasn’t for the title track. “Breaking News” is catchier than the common cold, but a billion times more fun.
It is said that Andersson arrived in the studio after a Lynyrd Skynyrd binge. That probably accounts for the wonderful southern rock element to “Live With You” but not for the Queen style stack harmonies that usher in “Daily Illustration”, which allows a chance to breathe with its slower style.
For my money, though, “Breaking News” makes its best headlines when it’s rocking at a million miles an hour in the fast lane as on the glorious pair of “Got To Move” and “One Second.”
In the context of this brilliant album, the AC/DC like licks on “RnR Business” are more than just an album track. Rather it is a mission statement and it delivers a damning verdict on the world of social media. “This is who I am. I ain’t quitting my band. We get criticised by nobody’s in disguise” says Hampus Steenberg and frankly, any naysayers have precisely no clue what they are talking about anyway.
Even managing to end things with a blues-like lustre on “I’m On The Loose” the band – in particular guitarists Gustav Wremer and Andreas Jenå – have excelled themselves here, although the organ work and cowbell don’t half help give this one a loose limbed Stones-y vibe. And you can bet somewhere in the Honk Palace Nicke Andersson is having a satisfied smile.
Here is the Breaking News: “Breaking News” is one of the best and most pure rock n roll albums you will hear this year.
Rating 9/10
