Diamond Dogs
Set Fire to it All

Tracks
1. On The Sunny Side Again
2. Set Fire To It All
3. Mama Let The Mad Dog Run
4. Scars And Emblems
5. Lay Me Down On Solid Ground
6. Bad But Not Ruined
7. Ball Of Lightning
8. The Inner Jukebox Blues
9. Sweethearts For Christmas
10. Burn One Down
11. Nothing Can Change This Love
12. Stand By The Rhythm
13. In Each And Every Ballroom


Band:
Sulo - Lead Vocals
Fredrik Fagerlund - Guitar
Lars Karlsson - Guitar
Martin Tronsson - Bass
Duke Of Honk - Keyboards
Magic Gunnarsson - Sax
Johannes Drain - Drums


Discography:
Blue Eyes Shouldn't be Cryin' (1993)
Honked (1994)
Good Time Girl (1995)
Need of Ammunition (1996)
Among the Nonbelievers (2000)
As your Green turns Brown (2001)
Shortplayer (2001)
Too Much is Always Better than Not Enough (2002)
That's the Juice I'm On (2003)
Black River Road (2004)
Up The Rock (2006)
Cookin (2008)
Most Likely (2008)
The Grit and the Very Soul (2011)


Guests:
Spike - vocals
Ryan Roxie - vocals
Danny Bowes - vocals
Dan Baird - vocals


Info:

Released 9/3-2012
Reviewed 19/5-2012

Links:
myspace

legal records


This a very valuable and especially with interest for twenty years they must be worth some money, which is why you might wonder why you should set fire to it all. Set Fire to it All is what the latest album by Diamond Dogs is called, and it is one of two releases marking their twentieth year, they will also release a concert DVD this year and on top of that doing a world tour. I have heard this band before with their release last year which I found not being at all good, so maybe this one is better but it may be worse as well. Well, they are called the worlds finest boogie rock collective, can that really be true?

Musically it is classic rock, some touches of what is called boogie rock but mainly it is rock music that brings the mind to the times of the past and also a certain british rock band with a name that doesn’t bring change to mind. Piano is an ever present touch in their music much like in the rock of the past. Not really unique or anything like that but rather like the rock of the past with a more modern production. The sound of this album is quite good but then again what can you expect from a band with that kind of experience. It sounds a lot better in sound than the prior album as well, much more professional production and more interesting musical variation on this album as well. The album has thirteen tracks and plays for about 50 minutes which has some variation to it.

The obvious thing about this album is that it is way better than the one I reviewed last time out, that is something I notice almost immediately. I also notice that there are some songs I really like, but also that there are some that I quite dislike and some that are just wrong. But is it any good? as a whole I would conclude that it isn’t that impressive there is just too much stuff on it that is totally uninteresting. I think the title track is a top offering a great and catchy tune that is well worth burning down stuff for. On the other end we have Sweethearts for Christmas which is just not particularly correct considering that the album is released in march. But then again a dog of twenty is very old so senility might have set so that they might confuse march for december, that song however would do much more sense on a christmas album if they ever will be releasing one.

But the world’s finest boogie rock collective? I can think of a few boogie rock bands that is better than this band but maybe they are not called a collective so if they are the only boogie rock collective I would assume that they are the best just like Rhapsody of Fire, best in something they are alone in. The thing is that this album offers nothing new, nothing of real consequence for the world of music and to be honest it is not that brilliant either and considering that it is hard to really see why I should select this album before any other album already released to the world of music.

So would I rather burn this album than give away any diamond dog to own it but still I have to admit that it is a decently well made album that probably will satisfy those who long for a time when mobile phones weighed a ton and a Volvo was completely square and dreary (hey, wait a minute, they still are). I might not be overly impressed with this album but anyway, congratulations to these dogs, twenty years is an impressive history to look back upon. Time for retirement?

HHHHHHH

 

Label: Legal Records/Sound Pollution
Three similar bands: Thunder Express/The Hydromatics/The Sewergrooves
Rating: HHHHHHH (3/7)
Reviewer: Daniel Källmalm

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