REVIEW: THE POODLES – Performocracy

 

THE POODLES – Performocracy (2011)

Frontiers Records

We are finally counting album No. 4 for Swedish melodic rockers THE POODLES, and I have to say this band works overtime. Formed in the fall of 2005 — with an early boost from a stint in the Swedish Eurovision qualifiers that helped kick their career into gear — they've released four studio albums, one live CD and one DVD in the years since. Not bad at all.

"Performocracy" was produced once again by Mats Valentin, the man behind all four records, though this time mixing duties went to Tobias Lindell (Europe, Mustasch). The title itself is a fusion of "performance" and "democracy" — "the power of performance," as the band puts it — and according to singer Jakob Samuel, the twelve tracks (thirteen with the bonus cut) push further into the darker, more epic territory the band only hinted at on its predecessor.

And that predecessor is exactly where the story starts, because the new CD continues the legacy of "Clash of the Elements." I can't say I was totally excited by it. Besides, the band set the bar extremely high with their first album, "Metal Will Stand Tall," back in 2006 — the record that, riding on the strength of the platinum single "Night of Passion," shot straight to the top of the Swedish charts and announced them as a serious force.

On the new album we have some great songs: "Father to a Son," the lead single "Cuts Like a Knife" — released ahead of the album with a video from Steve Ravic, the man who also shot the band's "In the Flesh" DVD — along with "Your Time Is Now," "Bring Back the Night" and "Vampire's Call." Apart from these, the rest of the album is on good standards, with a very nice ballad in "As Time Is Passing" and a couple of fillers, "I Believe in You" among them.

The production and the band's technique are superb, and I can't say I was disappointed by "Performocracy" — but I still can't say it reaches the heights of that first album. What I will say is that it holds its own against "Clash of the Elements," and it's certainly a step up from "Sweet Trade" — no small feat, given that "Sweet Trade" carried the double-platinum "Streets of Fire." The fans will love it. For everyone else, it's simply a good album.

Chris Kappas