Krokus - Hoodoo

Published April 27 2010

*=Staff's pick	Drive It In Hoodoo Woman* Born To Be Wild Rock 'n' Roll Handshake Ride Into The Sun* Too Hot To Handle In My Blood Dirty Streets* Keep Me Rollin' Shot Of Love* Firestar

Genre	Heavy Metal	Marc Storace	Vocals
Tracks	11	Fernando Von Arb	Guitar
Runningtime	43 Min.	Mark Kohler	Guitar
Label	Sony	Chris Von Rohr	Bass
Release	26 February 2010	Freddy Steady	Drums
Country	Switzerland	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	AC/DC, Rose Tattoo

Swiss rock heroes Krokus did fairly well with their latest effort Hellraiser, but still decided to do something drastic and reunite their classical lineup from the 80s. (Not to be confused with the original lineup, which doesn't even include Marc Storace. Actually, this specific lineup only appeared together on One Vice At A Time from 1982.) This caused quite some attention in their homeland, but the rest of the world waited a bit sceptically for the new album, before cheering.

And surely the fellows did not have any intention to do anything revolutionary. It is straight back to the simple AC/DC rock that made them famous in the late 70s and 80s. And if any band should copy AC/DC it is Krokus. They show a lot of the recently praised bands in the game who the 'originals' are.

If Hellraiser was leaning a bit over to heavy metal in the vein of Saxon and Accept, Hoodoo is certainly more towards straight rock 'n' roll. Drive It In is a decent starter, while the first single Hoodoo Woman is lurking next. The latter has a chorus that is sticky as gum in the hair.

The cover of the worn out Born To Be Wild feels a bit unnecessary. Their own material is strong enough without it. Rock 'n' Roll Handshake is a bit of a filler, while Ride Into The Sun is another soft rocker with hit potential. Actually it sounds more Def Leppard than Def Leppard's own song with the same title…

Following yet a couple of more anonymous tracks is Dirty Streets, a piece of heavy boogie rock in its most classical form. Marc Storace doesn't have the fine rasping voice he once had, but still does his job with dignity, especially on this one. Shot Of Love could as well have been done by AC/DC themselves.

It may be a simple cliché, but those who like old Krokus will not be disappointed. Maybe not blown away either, but that was at least not my expectations.

See also review of: Big Rocks , Hellraiser

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	5	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - David