BAI BANG

Swedish band Bai Bang, who were formed in the 1980s, have a really impressive CV, sharing the stage with the likes of Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, LA Guns, Ratt, Dio, Motley Crue, Saxon and playing LA's infamous Whiskey A Go Go and The Cat Club. ‘Are You Ready’, the band's sixth album (including a best of), makes a poor initial impression with a naff cover, heavily influenced by Guns 'n' Roses ‘Appetite For Destruction’ and an image which is a tragic copy of the late 1980s LA scene. Unfortunately, the music, also stuck in this period of time, is so predictable it can best be described as glam by numbers. The songs are lifeless, pedestrian and derivative with lyrics that are embarrassingly clichéd. The opening line to first track ‘I Love The Things You Hate’ being the cringe worthy ‘I Don't Wanna Go To Your Parent's House Tonight’ and it doesn't really get any better than that. In spite of this, the song is quite reasonable and features a half decent chorus. Having said that, the majority of the vocal lines are so crass and corny, you can't stop yourself from shaking your head in disbelief. Bai Bang's songs such as ‘Born To Rock’, ‘Party Queen’, the title track and ‘Bigtime Party’ sound like they should be foot tapping, air punching anthems but they don't rock and completely fail to excite. Worse than that, the two ballads featured on this album, ‘Only The Best Die Young’ and ‘All The Little Things’ are both sickly and turgid with the former track bordering on the type of dross you'd normally associate with boy bands. The only real positives I can find on this album are the clear production and proficient musicianship. ‘Are You Ready’ is lacking the punky energy, which the better more up-to-date glam/sleaze bands have adopted to make them more appealing. Bai Bang sound like one of the poorer bands that came out of LA during the end of the 1980s and unless you are an avid fan of this scene, the only advice I can honestly give is to avoid ‘Are You Ready’ like the plague.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Heaven

Album

ARE YOU READY

Review by Dave Crewe

RUNNING TIME:

33:48

RELEASE DATE:

27th April 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) I Love the Things You Hate
2) Born to Rock
3) Party Queen
4) Are You Ready I'm Ready
5) Only the Best Die Young
6) We Come Alive
7) Longtime Cumin
8) Bad Boys
9) All the Little Things
10) Bigtime Party

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Sweden

"The songs are lifeless, pedestrian and derivative with lyrics that are embarrassingly clichéd."