Album review: MASSIVE WAGONS – Full Nelson

MASSIVE WAGONS – Full Nelson

Earache Records [Release date 10.08.18]

Massive Wagons must be one of the hardest working bands in the UK. Over the last few years they have toured incessantly up and down the country and have gradually built a huge following which is mostly down to their incredible live shows and word of mouth.

This is the band’s third album and on release it went rocking into the charts peaking at number 16 which was a massive achievement (pun intended!). So the buying public was out in force but what about the product?

‘Under No Illusion’ starts the wagon rolling and is catchier that norovirus on a cruise ship, with strong melodies and a big chorus it is a singalong classic. ‘China Plates’ and ‘Billy Balloon Head’ keep things bouncing along with Baz Mills singing as though his lungs are about to burst. I was trying to think of a band to compare the Wagons to and the best I can come up with is they are the new Slade. Big vocals , huge hooks in the chorus and chunky riffs were the staple for Slade and so it is here, a Noddy and co for the 21st century!

‘Northern Boy’ is a reflective number with some fine guitar work from Adam Thistlewaite and a heartfelt  vocal from Barry Mills. Other album highlights include ‘Back to the Stack’, the band’s tribute to the late Status Quo mainstay Rick Parfitt, and ‘Hate Me’ which has a great melody.

The album is rounded off by two songs which were single releases and rightly so. Both ‘Ratio’ and ‘Tokyo’ are short and sharp rock songs with massive hooks which really sum up Massive Wagons. This is not over thought, pretentious music, this is straight forward, fun rock for the masses and with the band’s current rise in popularity it would appear that the word is spreading fast, don’t miss out! ****

Review by Dave Wilson


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