by John Foxworthy.

Love*Drugs*Rebellion

R2R's style stems from the heyday of hard rock with deep inspiration from bands like Motley Crue, Kiss and The Ramones. But, don't let their influences fool you. While this record is a tribute to everything good to ever spout out of an amplifier, these guys do it their way with all the style and attitude that fans of the genre demand.

If you're looking for something you've never heard before you won't find it here. I expect R2R aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but they certainly give it a new spin with this sleazy romp through the jungles of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. The whole album is loaded with straight up, hard rock backbeats and simple yet powerful guitar riffs, topped off with a healthy helping of smokin' guitar solos. Even the vocals demonstrate an unrefined, raunchy edge, locking down that raw, rough 'n' ready image most rock bands only dream of achieving.

If I had to criticize anything I heard on this album, it'd have to be that a few of the songs are too interchangeable. The best examples would have to be the first two; "We Are The Drugs" and "Take A Ride With Me." While they're both great tunes, I had a hard time distinguishing one from the other, in that they both seem to be driven by the same progression. They also play back-to-back and without the space between tracks, one might think they were the same song.

That aside, R2R have pooled their influences and released a fun, energetic mix of rock and punk with just a smidge of early '80s glam thrown in for sex appeal. They represent the old school without posing or cloning and I think Love*Drugs*Rebellion will be to Rockets what Too Fast For Love was to Crue. With that in mind, I can't wait to see what a couple more years in the trenches will produce for these guys.

Long story short; Love*Drugs*Rebellion is a very solid chunk of rock 'n' roll. No fancy gimmicks, no girly "butt tunes" and no respect for conformity help Rockets To Ruin breathe new life into an old genre. I think I'll keep this one in the deck a while longer.

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