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Shameless: Beautiful Disaster

Melodic Hard (Glam) Rock

4.0/5.0

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RSR Music
by Craig Hartranft
09.26.2013

For Shameless creator bassist Alexx "Skunk" Michael it will always be 1989. There will always be Sunset Strip melodic hard/glam rock, big hair, more eyeliner, chicks and more chicks. With long time cohort guitarist BC, and also vocalists Stevie Rachelle and Steve Summers, guitarist Keri Kelli, and drummer Tod T Burr, the international band returns with their sixth album, Beautiful Disaster, another platter of Eighties glam rock.

Shameless: in black.

And it's a pretty good one at that, having all the ingredients that go into glam melodic hard rock: strong melodies, catchy refrains, vocals which swerve between the smooth and a sneer, a loud rhythm section, and big guitar solos, all wrapped up in punk street level swagger. Greed Is God kickstarts the album and delivers it all. The later Train To Hell, not so much, merely a pounding metal song, but it still fits.

In between and to the end, there's some good stuff. Dear Mum, featuring The Runaways' Cherie Curie, and Rock n Roll Girls sound like glam-sized modifications of Ramones punk n roll, only with guitar solos. Forever Ends Today, the first single, is simply too damn catchy thanks to hooks in the riffs and refrain. The ballad You're Not Comin' Home is driven by some sweet piano and a symphonic layer. Like previous albums, Shameless does some cover tunes. This time it's Alice Cooper's I'm Eighteen and T.Rex's Life's a Gas. The former is rearranged for piano and orchestra giving it an epic feel, less hard rock, more symphonic. The latter features Curie once more and strays little from the proto-glam rock feel that Marc Bolan and crew pioneered.

While intentionally and shamlessly derivative of the genre, Shameless' Beautiful Disaster is solid and entertaining glam melodic hard rock. 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.

While intentionally and shamlessly derivative of the genre, Shameless' Beautiful Disaster is solid and entertaining glam melodic hard rock.

Alphabetical Index

eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]