Album review : HANOI ROCKS – The Days We Spent Underground (1981-84)

Esoteric Records/Cherry Red [Release date: 26.05.23]

CD1 Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks (1981)
CD2 Oriental Beat (1982)
CD3 Destruction Blues (1982)
CD4 Back To Mystery City (1983)
CD5 All Those Wasted Years (1984)

In the 4 short years from 1981 to 1985, Finnish band Hanoi Rocks went from zeroes to heroes.

This boxset chronicles that journey:

The magic moment of course happened when Michael Monroe met Andy McCoy in Helsinki in 1979, with the duo subsequently creating a musical and artistic chemistry that blossomed into a hugely influential sound.

In the world of popular music, 1981 was a time of transition. The band’s debut album, the wonderfully titled Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks was a groundbreaking entry, matching the energy and attitude of Punk to the trashy aesthetic of Glam.

Monroe’s vocal performance hadn’t quite developed into the lusty, ragged edged bravado that we became familiar with, and he nails down ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Village Girl’ like he’s been paying a lot of attention to the Buzzcocks and The Undertones. But the compelling mixtures of sharply written caustic lyrics, and on-the-edge axework from McCoy were just the beginning.

The same line up – McCoy, Monroe, Sam Yaffa, Nasty Suicide and Gyp Casino – went on to record their second album, Oriental Beat, the following year.
The punk roots and the glam influence became better defined with this new album, like they’d discovered what they did best.

Championed by Kerrang, Sounds and others in the UK music media, they fast gained a sizeable fanbase. Word spread exponentially. They were in demand from the USA to Japan, two nations always at the cutting edge of popular music. It would be no surprise to learn that tracks like ‘Motorvatin’ and ‘MC5’ were a major influence on the emergent LA Rock scene of the early eighties.

Later that year, the band stoked up the momentum by releasing Destruction Blues, an album of singles and B Sides, previously only available in Finland.

‘Love’s An Injection’ is a mesmeric album entry point, setting the mood and scene for further life lessons with ‘Kill City Kills’, delivered with a welcome blitz of low slung, springloaded guitars.

Of course, this being the eighties, all rock’n’roll roads lead to London. And as graduates of the school of Bowie and Mott, the band got Dale Griffin and Pete “Overend” Watts in to produce their fourth album, Back To Mystery City, at Park Gate Studios in the south of England. This was ‘83.

With more of an amped up, cranked up sound, the rollercoaster, dayglo ‘Malibu Beach Nightmare’ and the compact pop of ‘Until I Go’ leap off the page. And you’re thinking yes, this is how it’s supposed to sound.

The boxset is rounded out by All Those Wasted Years, a “Live From The Marquee Club” gig, recorded in 1983 (released in ‘84) and originally a double album.

As we know, the music media can be fickle, but it was clear it now considered Hanoi Rocks to be up front in the vanguard of leading edge Rock. The very fact the band covered Alice Cooper’s ‘Under My Wheels’ and The Stooges ‘I Feel Alright’ as well as hitting all the great songs from the first 4 albums provided all the authenticity the critics needed. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)