Track List:

Gimme What I Need

Out of Line

Queen Obscene

We Play It, You Scream It

Miss Pain

California White

Crashdiet; now there’s a modern band with a history possibly as complex as the relationship between Axl and Slash. The album Crashdiet was released in 2003, the first release from the Swedish band renowned for their revival of the sleaze scene.

Kicking off with Gimme What I Need you can immediately hear the extremes of Dave Lepard’s voice and, while at times it may be rather grating against the ear, there is something undeniably charming about it. The song is punchy and relentless with chanted backing vocals and thick distorted guitar sound scraping its way through the heavy percussion. Out of Line touches upon a more gritty sound, bluesy almost, although Lepard’s voice is possibly less of a delight to listen to on this track. Nevertheless, it’s worth listening to simply for the great bridge and Martin Sweet’s experimental guitar work. Queen Obscene is next and for Crashdiet fans, you’ll know it quickly became one of the hits on 2005 album Rest in Sleaze. Here, you can see where that gem came from. A slick, sleazy rollercoaster of a song with fantastic backing vocals give it a Pretty Boy Floyd-esque cheesiness while maintaining the attitude of this outrageous quartet. We Play It, You Scream It begins to slow the record down a little before Miss Pain erupts violently with a rushed rhythm that somehow seems to remain in time throughout the track. The CD ends with California White; a song that has a demo or two of it floating about forums and Crashdiet insiders. It brings the record to a perfect close with sinister bass line, subtle but complimentary harmonies and a Bond film aura.

Crashdiet really lets you see the development behind the band – perhaps it will even be a disappointment for fans when you compare the exploration of guitar work by Sweet on it to the rather more conservative solos found on Generation Wild (2010.) Yes, the songs could do with been a little bit shorter but it’s definitely a must-listen to for anyone interested in the roots of Crashdiet or a little sleaze revival.