Album Review: Royal Headache - High

With their debut album, Australian punk rock band Royal Headache, turned quite a lot of heads with their raw and gritty tunes. Listening to their music, you can vividly picture the band playing in a garage or a basement packed with wild rebellious teenagers head-banging and spilling beer over each other. It's been four years since their first album, and the band has had a lot of internal tensions, but they've finally released their second album High, and I love it.

From start to finish, the album is packed with raw energy. The loud and rough guitar chord progressions and strong vocals would even get a 90 year old grandma up on her feet, leaping about like a madwoman. And of course, since they are Royal Headache, all the ten songs on the album are relentlessly catchy. The title-track - High, in particular, refused to leave my head for quite some time. The drums and guitar make a hard hitting combination, sometimes with keyboards added in the mix, and the songwriting is quite strong, but what I feel really takes the center-stage are the vocals. There is both, passion and emotion, in Shogun's voice, really prominent on certain tracks, like Another Day and Love Her If I Tried.

The band has also diversified in terms of songwriting. Apart from the hard-rocking tunes, there are also some equally amazing slower ones (Wouldn't You Know, Carolina). The lyrics too show a little variety, although most of the album is based on love. On the opening track, My Own Fantasy, Shogun sings about how he used to fantasize about the fame and "tons of girls" which he thought came as a part of being in the rock scene, but now that he is in it, he realizes how different things are from his expectations. On the other hand, there is Garbage, built around a sick bass line, containing hilariously offensive lyrics like "You're not punk, you're just scum".

High is the kind of album that would make The Ramones and Sex Pistols, proud to see what has become of the genre that they so passionately created. I strongly recommend you give the album a listen.

Favorite songs: High, My Own Fantasy, Need You, Another Day

Rating: 8.5/10 

Quick Album Review: Burning Bridges By Bon Jovi

Burning Bridges is the thirteenth studio album by the 80s rock icons, Bon Jovi and their first record without guitarist Richie Sambora, a founding member. The album has been described by the band as a "fan album" and Burning Bridges is exactly that - "a fan album". It is a rehash of the band's old and tired commercial rock sound, only meant to please the band's loyal fans and justify their upcoming world tour, as admitted by Jon Bon Jovi himself.

Most of the album's songs are unfinished tracks reworked for release, some written during The Circle sessions, and they have nothing very exciting to offer. The ballad Blind Love, however is a standout track. Although, it has been done countless times before by the band with hits like Bed of Roses, the song charms you with it's tender lyrics and fragile melody. The guitar-heavy I'm Your Man, is another notable highlight. With the ending track, Burning Bridges, Bon Jovi announces the band's departure from Mercury Records, the label which they have been signed to for the past 30 years, with some pretty harsh lyrics. Jon sings in a raspy country voice over acoustic guitars, "Adieu, good night, guten abend/Here's one last song you can sell", "Hope my money and my masters/Buy a front row seat in hell". You just can't help giggling to it.

Burning Bridges, to me, is a decent album at best.

Favorite Songs: Blind Love, I'm Your Man

Rating: 6/10