{"id":14197,"date":"2013-08-27T00:00:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=14197"},"modified":"2013-09-10T09:16:44","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T09:16:44","slug":"album-review-michael-monroe-horns-and-halos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-michael-monroe-horns-and-halos\/","title":{"rendered":"MICHAEL MONROE – Horns And Halos (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MICHAEL MONROE
Horns And Halos<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSpinefarm (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cCoulda been, woulda been, shoulda been dead\u201d<\/em> croons Helsinki rock god Michael Monroe on his eagerly anticipated eighth studio outing, Horns And Halos<\/em>. As expected, it\u2019s another gem of a record that combines that smooth-toned swagger, glam rock stomp and punky attitude with a spring of sexy sax and melodic strut. <\/p>\n

Michael Monroe is a true rock \u2019n\u2019 roll survivor who ditched the drugs and booze for a life fuelled by New York Dolls-inspired sleaze \u2019n\u2019 glamour. Monroe has never released a turkey of an album and Horns And Halos<\/em> continues that sturdy trend. Boasting 11 high octane and wonderfully positive rockers, each are the result of that strong fusion of five musicians who all believe in the same thing… the power of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. <\/p>\n

Monroe is accompanied by one of my favourite guitarists, Steve Conte, who not only featured with the New York Dolls, but one of my favourite underrated rock bands, Company Of Wolves. Conte is joined by Swedish guitarist Dregen, former Hanoi Rocks and New York Dolls bassist Sami Yaffa and the aptly named Karl \u201cRockfist\u201d Rosqvist on drums, who over the years has worked with bands such as Danzig and Chelsea Smiles.<\/p>\n

You only have to spin Horns And Halos<\/em> once to get high on the energy of the whole affair; the album boasts so many catchy hooks and boisterous melodies that by the time you\u2019ve indulged in that first time hit you\u2019ll wake up to the sight of a trashed bedroom. <\/p>\n

From the off it\u2019s the pumping strains of \u2018TNT Diet\u2019 with its sweaty riff and kicking drum, Monroe offering a slurring snarl as he sneers, \u201cTorture and trauma is your middle name\u201d<\/em>. With \u2018Ballad Of The Lower East Side\u2019 though, he shows punk pretenders Green Day and the like how to vomit out a raucous melody as the blonde bombshell yaps, \u201cThere were junkies, pimps and whores, hallelujah!\u201d<\/em> over an infectious cauldron of hooks. However, Monroe is quick to warn that, \u201cThings are different today\u201d<\/em> as he reflects on his time in New York among the slums, but that dirty sound just evokes so many images of syringe-strewn back alleys and trashed hotel rooms. <\/p>\n

Horns And Halos<\/em> lowers the tempo slightly with the ulta-cool shaker-maker sway of \u2018Eighteen Angels\u2019. A modern rock \u2019n\u2019 roll sax-injected strutter, \u2018Eighteen Angels\u2019 proves as to why Monroe is without doubt one of the coolest motherfuckers on earth, cavorting and sighing over that tambourine shuffle and snarling lick, drooling \u201cMeet my maker she\u2019s no faker\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an absolute killer track that leads us to the bouncy \u2018Saturday Night Special\u2019 and the brooding \u2018Stained Glass Heart\u2019, which has echoes of Kings Of Leon\u2019s \u2018Sex On Fire\u2019 in those opening chords. Elsewhere, we\u2019re treated to the summery glint of \u2018Child Of The Revolution\u2019 with its Rolling Stones-like bop and the driving title track with its fantastic, uproar of a chorus. <\/p>\n

Sure, Horns And Halos<\/em> sounds modern, but that\u2019s the magic of Monroe; he has an ability to continue to rock hard and with sincerity, but without resorting to that lipstick \u2019n\u2019 leather type of days gone by. The rampant \u2018Soul Surrender\u2019 \u2013 with its potent bass, reggae-styled jog and snarling, choppy vocals \u2013 is contradicted by the darker strains of \u2018Ritual\u2019, while \u2018Half The Way\u2019 is equally cocksure and refreshing. The trio of tracks lead us to the closing \u2018Hands Are Tied\u2019 with its blues-based riff and Rolling Stones styled Mick Jagger swagger amid a riff of sax and sleaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to rock ya, but my hands are tied\u201d<\/em> Monroe blasts, but on this form he could ooze out this type of peroxide rock \u2019n\u2019 roll standing on one leg and blindfolded. Horns And Halos<\/em>… it\u2019s only rock \u2019n\u2019 roll but I like it.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MICHAEL MONROEHorns And Halos Spinefarm (2013)Rating: 8.5\/10 \u201cCoulda been, woulda been, shoulda been dead\u201d croons Helsinki rock god Michael Monroe on his eagerly anticipated eighth studio outing, Horns And Halos. As expected, it\u2019s another gem of a record that combines that smooth-toned swagger, glam rock stomp and punky attitude with a spring of sexy sax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,738],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-michael-monroe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14197"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14202,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14197\/revisions\/14202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}