THE POODLES [SE] - Melodic Rock
The Poodles @ Firefest, Rock City, Nottingham (UK) - October 24, 2014 - Pictures by Franky Bruyneel
Recommended albums
Discography01|2006|Metal Will Stand Tall
SE #4 | 808 (#1) 02|2007|Sweet Trade SE #8 | 806 (#2) 03|2009|Clash Of The Elements SE #5 | 785 (#3) 04|2011|Performocracy SE #1 | 767 (#4) 05|2013|Tour De Force SE #5 | 757 (#5) 06|2015|Devil In The Details Released on March 25, 2015 |
Rock Report's choiceMetal Will Stand TallLionheart Int’l, 2006
Produced by Johan Lyander & Matti Alfonzetti Charts: SE #4 Ratings: HH: 89 (26) | RYM: 3.63 (112) Total rating: 808 Updated: 150429 Line-upJakob Samuel (lv)
Pontus Norgren (g, bv) Pontus Egberg (b, bv) Christian ‘Kicken’ Lundqvist (d) + Anders Fästader (b on tr. 3) Johan Lyander (k) Jonas Samuelsson-Nerbe (v on tr. 4) Matti Alfonzetti (bv) Tess Merkel (v on tr. 2) |
Track listing01|Echoes From The Past (JS/PN/CG)
02|Metal Will Stand Tall (JS/JR) SE #2 03|Night Of Passion (RO/SA/MA/JL) SE #2 04|Song For You (JS) SE #7 05|Shadows (Y/AG/RO) 06|Lie To Me (TD/HK) 07|Rockstar (AF/GE) 08|Dancing With Tears In My Eyes (MU/BC/CA/WC) 09|Don’t Give Up On Love (MA/JL) 10|Number One (AF/GE) 11|Kingdom Of Heaven (JS/MJ) 12|Crying (Y/JS) SongwritersAF = Anders Fästader
AG = Aleena Gibson BC = Billie Currie CA = Christopher Allen CG = Chris Goldsmith GE = Göran Elmquist HK = Holly Knight JL = Johan Lyander JR = Jonas Reingold JS = Jakob Samuel MA = Matti Alfonzetti MJ = Marcel Jacob MU = Midge Ure PN = Pontus Norgren RO = Robert Olausson SA = Sonya Aldén TD = Tommy Denander WC = Warren Cann Y = Young |
Rock Report review
Let's start off this review by pointing out to all you melodic rock loving guys and dolls out there that you should by no means be deterred to purchase or give this offering by Swedish outfit The Poodles the ear test, based on the band's name or the artwork of the album. The first thought that entered my mind when looking at the pic on the front cover was: "This is another release for the fans of the sleazier side of rock 'n' roll." Nothing however is further removed from the actual truth.
This here product is a pure Scandi melodic rock affair with a touch of AOR and a big dose of variation in the song department. Opening track "Echoes From The Past" immediately shows what the name of the game is for these four gentlemen: cranking out tunes with catchy, singalong melodies and choruses with the sole purpose of installing a happy feeling for everyone who cares to listen. Another song that illustrates this quite perfectly is the album's title track "Metal Will Stand Tall", but the most striking cut from the twelve on offer is the one by which they entered the pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Festival 2006, viz. "Night Of Passion". This track is tailor-made for the charts with its highly infectious chorus and with the right kind of promotion it could well become as big a hit as Europe's "The Final Countdown" way back in 1986. A well arranged and quite unusual (for this particular genre) cut is "Song For You" that even features some male opera singing. The touch of AOR I mentioned earlier makes an appearance on the beautiful "Rockstar" and the semi-ballad "Crying", which closes the album in fine style. Another song which deserves a special mention is the band's reworking of The Ultravox chestnut "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", because it's not the kind of track you'd expect to pop up on a hard rock album. But let me tell you: the song is covered with class and on par with the rest of the material.
The only problem that those who are interested in getting their hands on a copy have to face is the fact that the disc is only available as a Swedish import product and it might take you some time to find a copy through an internet record store. But believe me when I say that it's well worth the time.
Serge De Rous, August 2006
This here product is a pure Scandi melodic rock affair with a touch of AOR and a big dose of variation in the song department. Opening track "Echoes From The Past" immediately shows what the name of the game is for these four gentlemen: cranking out tunes with catchy, singalong melodies and choruses with the sole purpose of installing a happy feeling for everyone who cares to listen. Another song that illustrates this quite perfectly is the album's title track "Metal Will Stand Tall", but the most striking cut from the twelve on offer is the one by which they entered the pre-selection of the Eurovision Song Festival 2006, viz. "Night Of Passion". This track is tailor-made for the charts with its highly infectious chorus and with the right kind of promotion it could well become as big a hit as Europe's "The Final Countdown" way back in 1986. A well arranged and quite unusual (for this particular genre) cut is "Song For You" that even features some male opera singing. The touch of AOR I mentioned earlier makes an appearance on the beautiful "Rockstar" and the semi-ballad "Crying", which closes the album in fine style. Another song which deserves a special mention is the band's reworking of The Ultravox chestnut "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", because it's not the kind of track you'd expect to pop up on a hard rock album. But let me tell you: the song is covered with class and on par with the rest of the material.
The only problem that those who are interested in getting their hands on a copy have to face is the fact that the disc is only available as a Swedish import product and it might take you some time to find a copy through an internet record store. But believe me when I say that it's well worth the time.
Serge De Rous, August 2006