Review Bonafide - Something's Dripping 2009

I've seen Bonafide live and when I got this album I really hoped that they were better on CD than live, because that live show is one I hopefully will forget, it was not very good.

After playing it through once I at least can say it's better than listening/seeing them live, but I can't really say I liked it. These gentlemen, with some correlation to the Swedish rock buisness Sweden Rock is making copies straight of from AC/DC while adding a vocalist that takes dysphonia really serious. Pontus Snibb just might be the long lost son of Brian Johnsson and Lemmy Klimister. Crossbreeding? Sure, Motörhead frequently figure on the Sweden Rock Festival, but why? Well, the answer is clear now, Lemmy wants to see his son - I wonder why AC/DC isn't visiting Sweden more often then? Pherhaps some sort of restraining order...

Anywho, 'Something's Dripping' is Bonafides second album and with their Sweden Rock references overflowing on this album they now tries to find their way through in to the bookshelf of middle aged balding men alongside with Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Black Sabbath, as well as the other bands from the Sweden Rock generation. So, the rock style of middle aged men is what Bonafide plays, a mix between names that no one born after 1990 even knows about - except pherhaps those that wasted their time looking for bands their parents like and liked them. Except for those two, no one will have any use for Bonafide - this is new music that sounds old and that is just as bad as old music sounding even older. Easy musical lines gets mixed with a lack of identity on both the dysponic vocalist and the music, creating melodies that makes Iron Maiden seem as an advanced band with music creators to be remembered.

Now, I will admitt that it's heavy, it swings and swirls as well. I even can admitt that I fill in on the chorus once, but it's just so damn dull. And dead, somehow. How will I be able to remember Bonafide? I don't know... I can list classic bands forever in best Sweden Rock way, but it would be pretty unfair to the bands I do so with to be compared with Bonafide (and we're not Sweden Rock so that's not our way of doing things). All Bonafide has done is just picking things from here, there and everywhere. They've copied guitarrs from some, rythm from others and melodies and lyrics from probably everyone. I like doing puzzles but in music I think it's better a little less obvious if they want me to swallow it. Bonafide doesn't even seem to have any ambitions of hiding their borrowed and stolen material. To those that love the hard rock from before Mötley Crüe, my guess is that this is like a bag of Twist (a Swedish bag of mixed chocolate) - there's a few pieces of each favorite. The music is well performed and good, I guess, but for me it goes straight through the ears and out. I like the originals better and in contribution to Bonafide, they have at least provided with something new once. Do you have to do this? No, off course not, as long as the material have an own identity but Bonafide doesnät have any identity at all.

Bonafide can take their blues inspired guitarr lines, their sing-along-friendly refrains and guitarr frenzy and continue playing at Sweden Rock festival - because at least there they have the right audience. And it is good music for that audience, I would think. Me, I'm not one of them and to me this is plain, copied and lacks identity - but doesn't suck completely. In short, my judgement is that Bonafides Twist bag miss all the chocolate I like.

HHHHHHH