Bai Bang: Livin' My Dream

As the resurrection of 80's rock continues, it is only fitting that one of the bands who were around the first time that sleazy, good time, goofy rock n roll ruled the world, remind us that while it may not be challenging, or multifaceted, melodic rock – if done properly – can be just as satisfying. Bai Bang debuted back in the early 80's and whilst not the most prolific of acts have been releasing albums ever since with Livin' My Dream being the band's seventh.

Bringing back the classic sound of the likes of Ratt, or melodic era Pretty Maids, the best word to describe Bai Bang is slick. The vocals are layered and produced to within an inch of their lives, with an immaculately shiny sound making for an album that sits on the extreme commercial edge of melodic rock, without ever veering off into AOR. The guitars are still gritty and tough and the riffs are strident and strong, however the massive and I do mean MASSIVE choruses are slickly sugary sweet enough to have the pre-teen Disney market prick up their ears. That is genuinely not meant as an insult and yes, while that may be a problem for some, I have to say that I found the results to be entirely convincing. Actually having the ability to bring together aspects of for example Def Leppard (ballad "Gonna Have It All"), with something altogether more attitude based (such as "Put On Her Dress" – which I may add is not a tribute to all the trannies out there!) and ultra-pop choruses (ala the super-smooth "Come On", which my 11 year old daughters love), really is a pretty clever trick. Guitarist Pelle Eliaz isn't afraid to stamp his authority on these songs and his solos on the like of "Rock On" mark him out as an extremely capable player, but it is the chorus and voice of Diddi Kastenholt that is king here. In fact Diddi's voice is layered to such an extent that I'm surprised that the CD actually fits in the box!

There's absolutely no doubt that Bai Bang have put together an album that will strike a chord with any lover of sleaze, party, arena, or whatever you want to call it rock, however with the right exposure, I kid you not when I say that Livin' My Dream could have massive cross over potential.

Track Listing
1. We're United
2. Livin' My Dream
3. Come On
4. Rock On
5. Stay
6. Gonna Have It All
7. Tonight
8. Rock It
9. Die For You
10. Put On Her Dress

Added: July 27th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Bai Bang MySpace
Hits: 2525
Language: english

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