{"id":20188,"date":"2012-05-27T15:15:17","date_gmt":"2012-05-27T20:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20188"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:02:20","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:02:20","slug":"wig-wam-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/wig-wam-wall-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Wig Wam | Wall Street<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Once upon a time, fans of this Norwegian glam rock band would wig out whenever they released a new album, their excitement as justified as putting a bullet in a pedophile\u2019s brainstem because the band\u2019s debut was fantastic and was followed up by a genuine glam-rock classic in Wig Wamania<\/em>. Both albums glutted themselves with glam-rock hooks and sing-along choruses and massive harmonies and cool-cheese lyrics and fans gobbled it up like Rosie O\u2019Donnell binging at an all-you-can-eat buffet.<\/p>\n

But then came the band\u2019s third studio album (or fourth, depending on whether you consider 667\u2026Neighbor of the Beast<\/em> and Hard To Be A Rock N Roller\u2026In Kiev<\/em> to be distinctly separate albums or just different versions of the debut) and not only did it find Wig Wam evolving (some would say devolving) into a more straight-forward melodic hard rock sound, but it also showed some chinks in the previously-impenetrable armor. While there was still plenty to love, for the first time there was also some filler tarnishing a Wig Wam album, pollution creeping in where previously only perfection had existed.<\/p>\n

So expectations must now be tempered when approaching this latest offering. Will it be a return to the glory days of Wig Wamania<\/em>\u2026or another good-but-not great offering like Non Stop Rock N Roll<\/em>? Well, stylistically speaking, it\u2019s much closer to the latter than the former, with the band still mostly in melodic hard rock mode rather than glam, but some of the songwriting on this release exhibits marginal improvement. That\u2019s not to say there aren\u2019t some tracks that are the sonic equivalent of porcine feces, because there certainly are, but they are offset by some super-catchy gems, making this an uneven but still enjoyable album. Your opinion of this release will basically depend on whether you are a glass half-full or a glass half-empty type of personality. You can dub this a disappointment or you can consider it a flawed success and either position is both easily defended and easily countered.<\/p>\n

For example, \u201cOMG! (Wish I Had a Gun)\u201d is a doozy of a rocker, packed with a pounding beat and a healthy dose of attitude, not to mention a big chorus that features more big backing vocals than you could count with an abacus, two calculators, and all your fingers and toes. But right on its heels comes \u201cVictory is Sweet,\u201d which is so dull that pharmaceutical companies are studying it to see if they can bottle its attributes and sell it as a cure for insomnia. But making up for that woeful track is \u201cThe Bigger the Better\u201d with its pop-edged Def Leppard vibe and overt catchiness\u2026only to be followed by \u201cTides Will Turn\u201d which wants you to be moved with emotion and succeeds\u2026except the emotion is unbelievable boredom. Then you get \u201cTry My Body On\u201d which rocks out with a slithery sexual groove and the kind of decadent addictiveness that once defined Poison, complete with lascivious lyrics and a gang vocal chorus. But before that you have to slog through the bluesy barroom swagger of \u201cWrong Can Feel So Right,\u201d which is one of the better fillers, but that is definitely damning with faint praise.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, Wall Street<\/em> is certainly not up to the ridiculously high bar Wig Wam set for themselves early in their career, but just because they blew their best load a little bit early doesn\u2019t mean the band doesn\u2019t have any bullets left in their rock \u2018n\u2019 roll guns. Wig Wam is still very capable of scoring a direct hit and nailing the bulls-eye\u2026they just do so more sporadically nowadays. That said, Wig Wam cranking on only six cylinders instead of eight is still better than many bands\u2019 best. Wall Street<\/em> might be a little subpar by Wig Wam standards, but by any other standard it\u2019s pretty damn good. <\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock, Glam<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAge Sten Nilsen (Glam)–vocals
\nTrond Holter (Teeny)–guitars
\nBernt Jansen (Flash)–bass
\nOystein Andersen (Sporty)–drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Wall Street
\n2. OMG! (Wish I Had a Gun)
\n3. Victory is Sweet
\n4. The Bigger the Better
\n5. Bleeding Daylight
\n6. Tides Will Turn
\n7. Wrong Can Feel So Right
\n8. One Million Enemies
\n9. Try My Body On
\n10. Natural High
\n11. Things Money Can\u2019t Buy<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.myspace.com\/wigwamania<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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