BAI BANG

‘Livin’ My Dream’ is Swedish band Bai Bang’s seventh album and, to be honest, my expectations were not high, having being unimpressed with the lacklustre ‘Are You Ready’. So I was both relieved and delighted that this did not regurgitate the same tired old rock ’n’ roll clichés that blighted the previous album although ‘Livin' My Dream’ hardly scores any points for originality. What makes this album a more appealing one is the quality of much of the melodies featured. Their sound has developed into a more bouncy lightweight pop rock with the likes of Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams and Def Leppard coming across as the main influences throughout. The fact that this may appear to be ordinary and bland on paper makes it all the more surprising as it works really well and is far superior to the poorly imitated late 80s LA glam heavily featured on its predecessor. The opener ‘We're United’ is an enjoyable lively rocky track that could have fit in well on the aforementioned ‘Are You Ready’ album. However, the majority of the tracks, including the standout title track, ‘Come On’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Die For You’ are all catchy and instantly likeable. On the down side, ‘Gonna Have It All’ is a godawful dirge of a ballad, ‘Rock It’ is a lame attempt at a Def Leppard style rock song and the plodding ‘Put On Her Dress’, which provides a very average finish to the album. ‘Livin’ My Dream’ is far from perfect but at least it can come highly recommended to fans of Jovi, Adams and Leppard as there will be much for them to admire. For anyone who enjoyed ‘Are You Ready’, this might turn out to be a disappointing follow-up.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

AOR Heaven

Album

LIVIN' MY DREAM

Review by Dave Crewe

RUNNING TIME:

35:07

RELEASE DATE:

25th July 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) We're United
2) Livin' My Dream
3) Come On
4) Rock On
5) Stay
6) Gonna Have It All
7) Tonight
8) Rock It
9) Die For You
10) Put On Her Dress

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Sweden

"Their sound has developed into a more bouncy lightweight pop rock..."