Reckless
T.M.T.T.80

This band wants to be taken to the eighties, hence the cover that could have been a stolen poster idea for Back to the Future – maybe that is why they want to get back, to return the stolen poster. Or the stolen music? They are one of this bands that have their sights in the mirror and who shamelessly rips off other songs, and it doesn’t even feel like they do it with a healthy dose of humour and distance. They seem to be taking themselves quite seriously when it comes to look and the rest.

Perhaps it is for those who look at the past through rose tinted glasses, imagining that things were better in the past. Sure, some things were but life in general was worse. They make sleaze by the way, or hair metal, think of bands like W.A.S.P., Poison, Cinderella, and whatever else they are called. Bands that passed me by in the eighties (I was too young to care back then), and that I pass by now as the music wasn’t to my liking then and it isn’t now. Simple rockers, decent energy, low variation, squeamish singer, very long playing time; that is about it when it comes to this album – playing for a whole hour is a bit rich.

There will probably always be a market for this retro stuff, but like all other music this kind of music was better when it was fresh and new. The longer a genre survives, the more watered down it gets, artists like Reckless and their peers add quantity and make it harder to find the quality the genre has to offer. Hair Metal like all other genres have great music to offer, Reckless is however not making that great music – they are just making up the numbers, making it more difficult to find the gems the genre has to offer.

They don’t take us to the eighties, not even themselves I imagine. Their songs are average, and their album is quite inoffensive and soulless, I have heard plenty of similar albums and been about as impressed with them as I am with this one – not at all that is. And in the end I guess some will like this album, but most who hear it will shrug their shoulders and not really care.

HHHHHHH