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Bastardogs: No Pain No Gain
Bastardogs No Pain No Gain CD Album Review

Bastardogs: No Pain No Gain

Melodic Hard/Sleaze Rock/Metal
3.0/5.0

Okay, so here we have Bastardogs (best guess, pronounced: bas-tar-dogs), from Italy, and their debut LP No Pain No Gain. Actually, I don't know how much consideration this band deserves considering their tasteless album art. But here we go, and you know me. I usually always have something to say.

Bastardogs No Pain No Gain Band Photo

Bastardogs: we iz sleaze.

I'm not talking about the front cover. While the graphics and presentation are basically shitty from the start, this is typical of modern bands trying to capture the attitude of Eighties sleaze rock/metal. Did I say Bastardogs is sleaze band from Italy. How unusual. It's very big over there in the rock underground.

Now more to the point. On the reverse side of my promo copy, which has the track listing, is the image of a revolver in the foreground and, in the background, what appears to be an infant child with a bullet in it's forehead with blood coming out. Okay, I get the whole sleaze attitude of shock and awe, I was there, back in the day. Some album art from the famous to the 'never really made it' also offered some tasteless stuff. But tasteless or not, we all knew, well most of us knew, that it was spectacle or parody or exaggeration. But shooting an infant in the head? WTF?

Otherwise, Bastardogs gets the genre: edgy melodic hard rock that verges on metal with lots of attitude, groove, and guitars. Excepting the vocals, which pretty much suck being drowned in the mix (the album cover has a Parental Advisory notice, but it doesn't matter because you can't understand a damn thing), the production brings up everything, especially the bass. And, there are no ballads. No Home Sweet Home or other such tunes that might get them laid after the show by some drunk and ugly chicks. Mostly, No Pain No Gain is crankin' and roarin' Eighties sleaze rock and metal, exactly what the band was after, and what bands have been producing for the last 30 plus years. It's not rocket science, really. But if you don't want to reach for your Motley Crue album, I guess you can spin this. Nuff said.




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In Short

Bastardogs gets the sleaze genre: edgy melodic hard rock that verges on metal with lots of attitude, groove, and guitars.

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