{"id":20661,"date":"2012-06-26T04:51:35","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T09:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20661"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:07:19","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:07:19","slug":"crazy-lixx-riot-avenue-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/crazy-lixx-riot-avenue-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Crazy Lixx | Riot Avenue<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Riot Avenue<\/em> is the third release from the impressive Swedish outfit Crazy Lixx. It\u2019s their second release on Frontiers Records, following their sophomore album New Religion<\/em> in 2010 (their debut album Loud Minority<\/em> was independently released in 2007). Although their sound has deviated a bit from their previous efforts, this is another top-notch album that will be sure to please lovers of classic hard rock. <\/p>\n

Crazy Lixx formed 10 years ago in Malm\u00f6, Sweden and quickly became one of the seminal bands in what has been called The New Wave of Swedish Sleaze along with contemporaries like Crashd\u00efet and Vains of Jenna. Although their earlier two albums had a more pop metal sound drawing comparisons to acts like Poison and Def Leppard, this one is more stripped-back with a more straight-ahead rock sound, more in the vein of AC\/DC or LA Guns. Some reviewers have been somewhat critical of this change, citing among other things, the lack of big rock anthems on this new album but when considered outside the context of the other two albums, by itself, this is a very good hard rock record.<\/p>\n

The album kicks off with one of the best songs on the album, \u201cWhiskey Tango Foxtrot\u201d. It has a raw, gritty sound with obvious AC\/DC influences. It\u2019s a great song and an excellent way to kick off a new album. And for those not familiar with the NATO phonetic alphabet, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot would be the code words for the classic texting characters, WTF. Clever, huh?<\/p>\n

Other standout tracks include \u201cYoung Blood,\u201d the title track \u201cRiot Avenue\u201d and \u201cBe Gone.\u201d \u201cYoung Blood\u201d is another AC\/DC inspired, slamming tune, with lustful teenage lyrics like \u201cripping me up with her young blood.\u201d This song has a great melody and cool lead solo towards the end. It\u2019s probably the best song on the whole album. The next track, \u201cRiot Avenue\u201d is another highlight with yet another blistering guitar lead. These first three songs are definitely the best songs on the album. \u201cBe Gone\u201d is the second-to-last track and is a heavy, up-tempo track with impressive rhythm and lead guitar-work. <\/p>\n

Although the first three songs are the best, the rest of the songs are still good, just not as good. The fourth track \u201cFire It Up\u201d is mostly forgettable but has great production. \u201cDowntown\u201d is a slower song but still rocks and has nice backing vocals. It also features some more lyrical hijinks, \u201cThere\u2019s a party downtown, and your sister\u2019s invited. You know I\u2019d let you come but I know you wouldn\u2019t like it.\u201d \u201cIn The Night\u201d picks the tempo back up and brings back the bluesy AC\/DC sound again. \u201cChurch of Rock\u201d is musically nice by lyrically cheesy, if not downright sacrilegious. \u201cHeatseeker\u201d is a much slower song but, again, features some nice guitar work with a catchy chorus. The title is interesting given the new AC\/DC inspired direction of this record since, of course, Heatseeker is the name of both an AC\/DC song and album. \u201cSweet, Bad & Beautiful\u201d is probably the most pop-oriented song on the album with some more party-rockin\u2019, sophomoric lyrics like, \u201csweet, bad and beautiful, shake your money-maker across the floor\u2026 you\u2019re a dirty dancer I\u2019m your stripper pole, you rock my body and you shake my soul.\u201d Musically and lyrically, think Danger Danger for this one.<\/p>\n

The final song is a bit of a head-scratcher. \u201cOnly the Dead Know\u201d is a very slow ballad and a strange way to wrap up such a hard rocking release. However, it showcases Danny\u2019s vocals as he\u2019s not screaming throughout the song and also highlights the guitar playing again. It\u2019s kind of \u201cBallad of Jayne\u201d meets Martika\u2019s \u201cToy Soldiers\u201d. Definitely interesting though and it shows that he really can sing. Maybe it\u2019s not such a bad closer after all.<\/p>\n

Missing is the slick glam sound of their first two albums, which is either good or bad depending on your preference. If you like good solid hard rock, you won\u2019t care. Although the songs themselves tend to vary a bit with respect to songwriting, one thing that comes through loud and clear is the incredible guitar work featured throughout. Another highlight with this album is the top-notch production. Overall, this release continues to show the rest of the world that the small European country of Sweden has more to offer than just hot blonde girls.<\/p>\n

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

Band:
\nDanny Rexon – vocals
\nAndy Dawson – guitar
\nEdd Liam – guitar
\nLoke Rivano – bass
\nJoey Cirera – drums<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
\n02. Young Blood
\n03. Riot Avenue
\n04. Fire It Up
\n05. Downtown
\n06. In The Night
\n07. Church Of Rock
\n08. Heatseeker
\n09. Sweet, Bad & Beautiful
\n10. Be Gone
\n11. Only The Dead Know<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Web: www.crazylixx.com<\/a> www.facebook.com\/crazylixx <\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins Staff Writer — Riot Avenue is the third release from the impressive Swedish outfit Crazy Lixx. It\u2019s their second release on Frontiers Records, following their sophomore album New Religion in 2010 (their […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[4452,374,3523,1103,2267,4453,3375],"class_list":{"0":"post-20661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-crazy-lixx","8":"tag-frontiers-records","9":"tag-glam","10":"tag-hard-rock","11":"tag-metal","12":"tag-riot-avenue","13":"tag-sleaze"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}