Who would have thought that in 2008 a band would cop the look of the Hanoi Rocks and Bang Tango and mix that with the sound of Avenged Sevenfold? Not me that's for sure, but that's exactly what you get with Canadian rockers, Blessed By A Broken Heart. Their latest CD, Pedal To The Metal (Century Media), is a walk back in time when Hair Metal ruled and the cheesier the lyrics the better. Are the '80's back? Let's see.
Pedal To The Metal is an 11 track CD full of sappy lyrics, synthesizers, electronic drums (YES, I did say ELECTRONIC drums!), excellent guitar playing and almost too much of an effort for the big "anthem" '80's hit. Complete with dopey band member names like Da Bird and Shred Sean, Blessed By A Broken Heart have the complete tongue in cheek thing in effect here. Songs like "Move Your Body" are so cheesy that someone out there will probably eat this up. Think Poison meets Nelson.
Admittedly Blessed By A Broken Heart are trying to bring back that party vibe into Hard Rock/Metal, but this is so over the top in their delivery that it's almost silly. I can't fault them too much, they do have some catchy hooks, but it's all been done before. Lyrics like "This is what it's like to be young, singing loud and having fun", are laughable but you have to think this was all done with a smile on their faces. Another stab at the '80's anthem, sing along song.
Total bright side is the guitarist, ugh…Shred Sean. And yes, I wanted to hate him for the name alone, but the guy can rip it up! Blessed By A Broken Heart go from Steelheart sappiness to almost a Killswitch Engage heaviness and ugh again…Shred Sean delivers the goods every step of the way in a Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom type of way. Bad name but a great player and a great tone as well! And singer Tony Gambino does a pretty good job of handling the varied vocal tasks.
To be honest, I really wanted to hate this. This reeks of the mid '80's L.A. Sunset Strip scene, but 20 years later and heavier. Kind of a "Haircore" sound. '80's sappy at points and with a modern Metal sheen complete with growled verses and polishedly sung choruses. Pedal To The Metal will find a home with many I'm sure, but all and all they disguise themselves as a Glam Metal type of band when the majority of the record is Avenged Sevenfold meets Bullet For My Valentine, so you make up your mind, but I kind of think these guys aren't very sure what they want to be. But I don't hate it & I really, REALLY wanted to.
Track Listing
- Intro
- She-wolf
- Show Me What You Got
- Move Your Body
- She's Dangerous
- To Be Young
- Doing It
- Blood On Your Hands
- Don't Stop
- Carry On
- Ride Into The Night
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