JR notes: I've misplaced the Kerrang! containing this review. Fortunately, I had a copy of the review so I'm able to type it in here. If anyone knows which Kerrang! this appeared in please email me so I can list it properly here. The issue would be somewhere in the volume 50-60 range.

Hanoi Rocks
'Back to Mystery City'
(LICLP 1)

If there's a key word to describe this album then it would be 'vindication.' Vindication, because at last, at their fourth attempt, Hanoi Rocks have finally and irrevocably established themselves as a viable recording band. The one doubt that still hung over albatross like over their heads was their prowess in the studio with only glimpses, vague suggestions and the occasional out-and-out cry for attention to indicate the potential really WAS there. And 'Back to Mystery City' delivers at a crucial stage in their career and delivers straight between the eyes. Any lingering doubts are instantly dispelled. Hanoi Rocks have arrived.

This album will be greeted with rampant enthusiasm by the rest of the music press (NME excepted), who have at least woken up to the fact the The Rocks are the biggest news to hit rock 'n' roll since Mick 'n' Keef slunk out of Dartford two decades ago. 'BTMC' works largely, I suspect, due to the introduction of Mott the Hoople's Overend Pete Watts and Dale 'Buffin' Griffin as producers. Their contribution, both to the general working atmosphere and end-product, seems considerable. The sound they've gleaned from Hanoi surpasses anything the band have thus far laid down on vinyl. There are numerous small effects thrown in to enhance the point of each song: the idea of introducing backing vocalist Miriam Stockley, too, I'd guess came from the Buffin and Watts camp and is similarly productive.

In short this album at last provides was evidence that Hanoi really are as good as I've always said they were. The album can be divided sharply in two, the heavier material appearing on the first side, the softer, more intricate songs coming on the flip.

Side One opens with Andy McCoy's Tull-esque 'Strange Boys Play Weird Openings,' a self-explanatory title if ever I saw one, before barn-storming through the new single, 'Malibu Beach.' 'Mental Beat' begins, unfortunately, with Razzle thumping out the same beat he ended 'Malibu' on, but this gives way to a tautly-strung powerhouse of a song dedicated to the 'joys' of amphetamines. It possesses that same intense, agonizing, claustrophobic feel - painful but brilliant.

'Tooting Bec Wreck' is a protest song with Andy McCoy bitterly complaining of his treatment at the hands of Society. Although I didn't go much on this at first, the remixed version allows the thing to grown on you and it's certainly McCoy's finest lyrical moment. But the album's winner is 'Until I Get You.' Mike Monroe has never sung better, the harmonies creating a warm and lasting gem of a love song. Quite superb.

Side Two opens with "The Everly Brothers song they never wrote" in the shape of 'Sailing Down the Tears,' but it's the final title track that crowns the album. An incessant, mammoth song given a BIG production sound and one of Hanoi's most ambitious musical ventures to date.

This IS an epic. This DOES vindicate my belief in the band. Everyone connected with this group knew their moment would arrive eventually and now it finally has. And this is only the start.

DAVE DICKSON

copyright Dave Dickson, 2002

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