DIAMOND DOGS – Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous (2022)
One of the current most dynamic stage performers, Sweden’s classic rockers DIAMOND DOGS are sitting pretty nicely on top of their game. With the boogie piano and the delightfully sleazy / glam overall feel, they sound like they’re having an absolute blast.
The band’s new double album, ”Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous”, will see a January 21, 2022 release. The record was produced and mixed by Tomas Skogsberg, and the songs are all composed, jammed, arranged, and recorded at Sunlight Studio (Gräddö, SWE) mainly during the summer months of 2020.
The group has had countless collaborations with the inimitable producer throughout the years. During varying periods of time, the band members come and stay in the studio’s cottage annex, with sessions, mind-expanding, forest walks, and rock ‘n’ roll tales around the clock. Their common love for the golden years of Mott makes them inseparable.
After making demo tapes with star producer Max Martin (Britney Spears) in 1991, Diamond Dogs shortly thereafter went into legendary Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg. The first single “Blue Eyes Shouldn’t Be Cryin” from the debut album Honked, launched in 1993, made its way onto rotation on MTV’s classic hard rock show Headbangers Ball, and it became the start of a successful journey that eventually took the group to worldwide cult status.
And this time, 30 years after it all started, Diamond Dogs have yet another time returned to Skogsberg to make their 14th LP. A 24-original songs double album.
Diamond Dogs are in a league of their own. The band has confidently been releasing classy rock albums since the early ’90s, and also has a large reputation for their energetic live shows, which often stretch out to over three hours. Fans will be hard-pressed to find many bands revisiting this style of classic rock or doing it in such style.
The Swedish classicists make no bones about their mission in life, to keep the flame of old-fashioned, bluesy, riff-driven rock and roll burning. They have been special guests on tours with Nazareth, The Damned, The Cult, Hanoi Rocks, Iggy Pop, and Ian Hunter tours. And having toured their emotional home UK several times, headlining the premium venues, the English music press nowadays speaks about the Swedes as sounding more British than the Brits themselves.
”Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous” is a release for kids of the ’70s. From the top, it conjures up the spirits of the precious glam rock era. The warm atmosphere brings the air of the golden age, and the energy of the songs and performance give a promise of rock music for the new generation.
There’s a lot of material here, however most songs around the 3 and a half minute mark. Just classic rock ‘n roll from the heart.
Highly Recommended
Disc I
01 – Alright Brutus I’m On
02 – What If I Knocked
03 – Everything’s Fine
04 – Rocked, Wrecked, Robbed and Ruined
05 – You Got a Diamond in Me
06 – A Rock in the Sea
07 – You Shouldn’t Be Lonely on a Saturday Night
08 – Make up Boogie
09 – Ghost Pain of Your Love
10 – Golden Wheel
11 – Get Me Out
12 – Slap-Bang Blue
Disc II
01 – Queen of the Milky Way
02 – Rock It and Roll It
03 – Toxic Daydream
04 – Common Form of Life
05 – Rocket Ricochet
06 – Sunday Haze
07 – Run Through the Wildfire
08 – Suicidal Idol
09 – Anyway I Can Make Her Smile
10 – Vanity Villains
11 – Lose to Get By
12 – Blind Broke Patron Saint
Sören ‘Sulo’ Karlsson (lead vocals)
Fredrik Fagerlund (guitar)
Lars Karlsson (guitar)
Martin Tronsson (bass)
Johannes Drain (drums)
Duke of Honk (keyboards)
BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/Slap-Bang-Blue-Rendezvous-Diamond/dp/B09K22JHZK
