Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2025 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
CELEBRATING 18 YEARS!
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
May 2025
- Laurenne/Louhimo: Falling Through Stars
- Rock Out: Let's Call It Rock N Roll
- The Flower Kings: Love
- Maestrick : Espresso Della Vita: Lunare
March 2025
- W.E.T.: Apex
- Alliance: Before Our Eyes
- Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
- Phil X & The Drills:
Pow! Right In The Kisser - IQ: Dominion
- Heart Line: Falling Heaven
- Gotthard: Stereo Crush
- Defender: Dying To Live
- Streetlight: Night Vision
February 2025
- Robin McAuley: Soulbound
- Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
- Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
- Mantric Momentum: Alienized
- Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
- Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
- Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
- Dream Theater: Parasomnia
- Tyran: Tyran's Oath
- Saber: Lost In Flames
January 2025
- Wildness: Avenger
- The Ferrymen: Iron Will
- Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
- Bonfire: Higher Ground
- The Big Deal: Electrified
- Landfall: Wide Open Sky
December 2024
- After Lapse: Pathways
- Illusion Force: Halfana
- Powell-Payne: Voilá
November 2024
- Sunstorm: Restless Fight
- Storace: Crossfire
- Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
- Lionville: Supernatural
- Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
- Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
- Lonerider: Down In The Dust
- Seventh Crystal: Entity
- Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
- Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
- Impellitteri: War Machine
- Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter
Poodles, The: Perfomocracy
Poodles, The: Perfomocracy
AOR/Melodic (Hard) Rock
3.5/5.0
Frontiers Records
Website
Facebook
MySpace
by Craig Hartranft, 04.11.2011
I've followed The Poodles career from the beginning. Consistency. What else would expect from Sweden's The Poodles on their fourth studio release Performocracy? Once more The Poodles deliver a platter that blurs distinctions between melodic hard rock and metal in the guise of AOR. Excusing the bizarre and unpronounceable album title, Performocracy is classic or, better, typical Poodles material.
The Poodles can bring basic melodic rock as on I Want It, Into the Quiet, or Vampire's Call (profiting on the whole Twilight thing?). Or they can get heavy, nearing a metal edge, as on I Believe in You, Action, and maybe, the last song, Don't Tell Me. Perhaps more familiar are Poodles songs that engage the ear with convincing melody, significant hooks, and a total arena rock feel. The first single Cuts Like a Knife (not to be confused with the Bryan Adams song) qualifies as arena rock material. So does the socially conscious Love Is All and the power of positive thinking of Your Time is Now. The Poodles stumble on the emotional navel-gazing ballad As Time is Passing.
Overall, as said before, Performocracy is classic Poodles material. Any new ground broken? Probably not. Solid melodic (hard) rock? Without doubt. Very few bands do it this well and with this creativity. Recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
In Short
Performocracy is classic Poodles material. Any new ground broken? Probably not. Sound melodic (hard) rock? Very few do it this well and with this creativity. Recommended.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
Here's a fun fact about Swiss legends, Gotthard: their last 16 releases, excepting their debut album, went to number one in their home country, making them one of Switzerland's most successful acts and ... [ Read More ]