10 Records Worth To Die For: #235 mit Lena McFrison (The Loyal Cheaters)

While W.A.S.P. are usually known for glam metal songs such as Wild Child, Animal (F**k Like A Beast) and I Wanna Be Somebody, I think Blackie Lawless reached his songwriting top level with the Crimson Idol album. This is a rock opera where all songs talk about the rise and fall of the controversial rockstar Jonathan Steel, in a way more profound and heartbreaking style compared to previous albums, and, artistically speaking, at the peak of maturity for Blackie. The first thing you notice are the drums, and I would hazard to say these are my favourite drums in an album ever, resembling a lot of The Who’s signature style. The production is immense, not plastic and has a good balance between the raw sound and the cleanliness of the instruments. In my opinion, this is the best heavy (but not-so-heavy) album from the 90s, and everyone should listen to it at least once in his life.

This album is often regarded as a thrash metal classic, however I feel a lot of punk attitude in it. I am not only talking about the political message contained in many songs, which takes distance from many of the TRASH (yes, without the H) lyrics common in the 80s, but also about the rage contained in the songs. I believe this to be the best Megadeth album, because it still sounds genuine, raw and with an incredible songwriting (I challenge everyone to compose “Good Mourning”). I am also a Dave Mustaine super fan, as he wrote incredibly creative riffs, and he plays them live while singing. Man, how can you write such stuff and play them like eating candies?

I could not avoid including the masterpiece by the Action Rock gods. This album has everything that a perfect album should contain. I listened to it thousands of times and still every time I can discover a detail in the production that I did not notice before, I never get bored of it. I can’t say more about it, the songs speak for themselves, from 0:00:00 you know it’s gonna be a hurricane of emotions and you can just get excited.

Even though this album is already 24 years old, I feel it still sounds very modern. The prime era of Hardcore Superstar is for me the most honest one, you can already hear a top-notch production but loyal to the more raw style of the band. This is pure rock’n’roll with minor tunes that will resemble all your good and bad memories, special highlight is “Someone Special”, a power ballad for the nights when you need your heart to be wounded more than it is in that moment.

Bad Nerves are the punk band revelation of the 2020s. This album is what all punk should be about and really takes a lot from the old school tunes, while having a modern production that is a cherry pie on top. It sounds so authentic and pure, all the tracks are potential radio singles, no fillers. I wish there could be more bands like Bad Nerves in the world, to feed all the hunger of new punk generations.

My love with The Baboon Show started in Berlin, while I was in a vinyl shop and a customer invited me to go see to this “punk’n’roll band that you’ll love”. Funnily enough, the year after I opened their concert in Sardinia with my band The Loyal Cheaters. They have great tunes in this super long named album like “It Wasn’t Me” and “Fire Over Stockholm City”. This album is my favourite of theirs, though it is difficult to choose among their works as they have a very solid discography. On top, their lives are pure action and Cecilia and Frida are power artist women!

At this point in time probably we all know Amyl And The Sniffers, they became viral and aired in many radios all over the world, and for a reason. Amyl is absolutely an icon for the new generation. She is clearly inspired by Cherry Curie for what regards her wardrobe and I think she has way much more to say in her unique musical style. I really love her punk vocals and the songs of this album are filled with meaningful lyrics that are worth listening to. Only drawback for me is the cover art, for sure unique but not in my taste, but the cover doesn’t usually make an album sound better, so still top 10!

I must admit I started listening to The Hives (and by listening I mean not just knowing the famous songs) only some years ago, after seeing them live – and what a show! – with The Hellacopters in Sweden. Among all albums, Barely Legal is the one I like most. This is their first full album, and explains just why The Hives became so popular. This is pure raw adrenaline, a perfect mix of punk and garage, with fast songs that will stick to your mind. Guitars are just on top here.

There is a reason why this album is in the top 10 of my favourites, and I think because this was an inspiration for a lot of heavier stuff that came later. Not a coincidence that Megadeth covered the opening track of this album, “Melt The Ice Away”, as well as Metallica’s more famous covers of “Breadfan” and “Crash Course In Brain Surgery”. Budgie are usually unknown to the mainstream public, but in my opinion they were pioneers in developing a sound that I can describe as a perfect match between Rush and Black Sabbath. Perfect soundtrack for an evening with a beer as company.

Ravagers are a relatively underground band compared to the others listed above, but I think they have all the right papers to become mainstream. This album from 2022 is very well written and played, it has a lot of catchy songs like “Down That Road” and “Shake The Reaper” and tastes like reckless life events mixed up with pure punk’n’roll adrenaline. The production is a good compromise between modern and vintage, great guitar sounds and powerful vocals. In a period when the music biz is going in the opposite direction, we need more bands like this.

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