CRASHDÏET – The Unattractive Revolution

Even though Sweden’s Glam/Sleaze Rock band Crashdïet is in its infancy stages, within the span of two years the band already has one interesting and tragic tale to tell. The band’s origins begin somewhere at the start of the current millennium with them only being discovered by Universal Music in 2004. With that discovery, Crashdïet became the first Sleaze Rock band to be signed to a major record label in over 10 years.

Crashdïet’s debut album, Rest In Sleaze, entered the Swedish national album chart at position No. 12! Everything seemed to be going in the right direction for the band as they continued to grow in popularity worldwide. It was barely into the year 2005 — as they were about to embark on a Swedish tour, tragedy struck. Singer/guitarist Dave Lepard was found dead in his apartment after committing suicide. The remaining band members were devastated and distraught and felt that Crashdïet couldn’t carry on without one of its founders and they collectively decided to call it quits shortly thereafter.

Months later, the remaining members finally got together and discovered their passion for music helped them through their grief and sorrow and that they could no longer hold back that passion. They decided to petition for a new singer with the initial direction being the advent of a new band. Nearing the end of 2006 the yet-to-be named band were in turmoil over whether or not to continue using the Crashdïet name. After many sleepless nights and approval from the Lepard family, the remaining members decided that carrying on with the Crashdïet name was one of the best ways to keep Dave’s spirit alive and immortalized.

A year later sees the unveiling of the band’s sophomore release, entitled The Unattractive Revolution, with the three remaining founding members intact and a new vocalist onboard by the name of Olliver Twisted. To increase their chances of continued success, the band managed to bring in Mötley Crüe’s guitarist, Mick Mars, to assist and play on two tracks.

The end result is eleven tracks of raunchier and rawer material than found on the band’s debut release. Much of this can be attributed to the grittier vocal styling of Twisted versus Lepard. As if to confirm this statement, the album opens up with a thunderous blast from the track “In The Raw.” This wonderful opener has all the grit and glory of early Crüe, to say the least. While the occasional catchy, melodic choruses still exist throughout, they tend not to be as bubble-gum-like as those found on the debut release.

All tracks have their own Glam/Sleaze sparkle, with several having very memorable choruses. Tracks like “Die Another Day” ooze with an up-tempo groove, buzz saw guitar, and Arena Rock/Sing-along chorus. The track “Alone,” which features Mick Mars, is the closest thing to a ballad on this release; even so it maintains a raw edge that keeps it from sounding watered down. New vocalist Twisted proves he’s also not “one-sided” as he’s credited with being a co-writer of the majority of the lyrics on this release. While the lyrics won’t give members of Rush or Queensrÿche night sweats, they still manage to come across as viable without sounding corny or childish.

Bottom line, even though this is the band’s second release, it could arguably be declared a “come back album” due to suffering such a tragic loss of their original singer. Each track offered here has its own merits and there’s not a weak one amongst them. Bringing in Twisted seems to have injected new vigor into the band with the net result being a CD full of catchy, raunchy, Glam/Sleaze that doesn’t sound like a carbon copy of Mach I of the band. The close of the 2007 year is turning out to be a winner for Glam Rock/80’s fans with the last quarter giving fans excellent releases by Dirty Penny, the forthcoming Crazy Lixx’s release, and now Crashdïet!!! A wonderful tribute to Lepard’s spirit and one that comes highly recommended for fans of the genre!

Lineup

Olliver Twisted – Vocals
Martin Sweet – Guitar
Peter London – Bass
Bertram Engel – Drums
Eric Young – Drums