Artist: Lordi
Label: Drakkar Records
Release: 2009
Rating: 4/5
You all know Lordi by now. The mega-successful Finnish export, 2006 Eurovision winners, who somehow stand in for the “Monsters in the Closet” cartoon in real life, have rushed out a compilation in record time. After just four albums. Lordi, who spent March touring Europe, dutifully worked this compilation into their live set along the way, and so promoted it “live” at the same time.
This compilation really does bring together the best of the best of what we’ve managed to get to know, receive, and swallow from the band out of Rovaniemi, Finland. Lordi are, of course, a quintet of five masqueraders who are supposed to personify zombies, or the undead brought back to life. The living dead are a textbook case of a finely measured marketing move that has wrapped its tentacles firmly around the pockets of the masses, skillfully squeezing out its earnings. But at the same time, Lordi offer plenty of reasons to be interested in musical terms, too.
Lordi aren’t exactly great musicians. They never were, and they never will be. They’ve got precious little technique or formal training. Their approach is simple and owes a lot to the legacy of those American mega-moneymaking clowns Kiss. They even deliberately snub the double bass drum pedal, though it’s quite possible that drummer Kita knows how to use one otherwise.
Lordi are sweetly, poisonously catchy melodic hard rockers, thanks to cleverly arranged, highly singable tunes in the choruses that always score winning points whenever there are musical masses to subdue and win over. And in that, Lordi are true masters. The choruses have that duality of tragedy, villainy, devilish mischief, and a nudge toward temptation, while at the same time being, as mentioned, sugary-sweet and seductive in their listenability. They serve it up through melancholic chorus arrangements masterfully fitted out with multi-part vocal harmonies, something Mr. Lordi definitely learned from listening to the AOR pioneers.
In this respect the songs practically compete with each other over which one takes the crown for the most commercially minded melody. No matter that Lordi look “childish,” the music, when all is said and done, is what chases away any worry that this might be a “cheap con.”
So Lordi are massively infectious and so successful because they walk a fine line: provocatively shocking, yet still friendly enough that parents won’t forbid their brats from hanging out with Lordi “zombie-songs.” When you walk through the first disc, which holds the best of the best, you’ll notice that across the material from all four studio releases there’s practically no drop in quality or shift in genre, and the compilation slides down smooth as the sweetest candy. That means if you like one album by the band, you’ll like the other three too. It doesn’t matter which one you hear first, though thanks to the inclusion of the mega Eurovision discovery Hard Rock Hallelujah, you’ll probably turn to the album “Arockalypse” (2006) first. I’d also add that the compilation (disc no. 1), thanks to its simple but high melodic compactness and polished sound, can serve as the perfect background for whatever you’re doing in your daily life. No matter the time or place. It’s relaxing, because you have to realize that Lordi are here first and foremost to entertain you endlessly. Even when they’re “scaring” you.
The second CD opens with a live recording from Stockholm that hasn’t been officially released until now and proves that this band is no joke on stage either. After that come additional studio tracks that appeared as B-sides of officially released singles, which means you won’t have to bother completing the Lordi discography anymore, hunting down the band’s EPs on eBay and similar online shops.
Since Lordi are at their most thrilling when you see them right in front of you, the limited edition also includes a bonus DVD, which features six tracks from the Helsinki celebration of the band’s Eurovision win at Market Square. With all the “horror” show, pyrotechnics, rotting corpses, murals of gallons of splattered blood, gallows, and corpse autopsies, it brings even more extras for a great time. So Lordi wouldn’t play favorites, after that concert footage they’ve added a chronological run of clips from their breakthrough at the Eurovision contest, as well as all six officially released videos and a peek into the making of the film “The Kin”.
This compilation is a real hit for anyone who has only just warmed up to Lordi, as well as for every curious soul whose contact with the band is only superficial, that is, marginal. In both cases, I stress again, disc no. 1, with its excellent selection of the best Lordi songs packed together and, as best they could, maximally “zombified,” is already reason enough to invest.
Lineup
Mr. Lordi – vocals
Amen – guitar, backing vocals
Awa – keyboards, backing vocals
Enary – keyboards, backing vocals
OX – bass guitar, backing vocals
Magnum – bass guitar, backing vocals
Kalma – bass guitar, backing vocals
Kita- drums, backing vocals
Track list
CD 1.:
1.Hard Rock Hallelujah
2.Bite It Like A Bulldog
3.Who’s Your Daddy?
4.Devil Is A Loser
5.Blood Red Sandman
6.Get Heavy
7.They Only Come Out At Night
8.My Heaven Is Your Hell
9.Beast Loose In Paradise
10.Deadache
11.Would You Love A Monsterman?
12.Bringing Back The Balls To Rock
13.Forsaken Fashion Dolls
14.Supermonsters
15.The Children Of The Night
16.Rock The Hell Outta You
17.Pet The Destroyer
18.Monster Monster
19.It Snows In Hell
CD 2.:Live In Stockholm & Bonusracks
1. Bringing Back The Balls To Rock
2. Get Heavy
3. Who’s Your Daddy?
4. Not The Nicest Guy
5. Pet The Destroyer
6. Rock The Hell Outta You
7. Blood Red Sandman
8. The Kids Who Wanna Play With The Dead
9. They Only Come Out At Night
10. Would You Love A Monsterman?
11. Hard Rock Hallelujah
12. Mr. Killjoy [non-album track]
13. Evilove [non-album track]
14. Don’t Let My Mother Know [non-album track]
15. Pyromite [non-album track]
16. To Hell With Pop [non-album track]
CD 3.: (DVD-Video) “Market Square Massacre”
Live at the Helsinki Market Square:
1. Bringing Back The Balls To Rock
2. Devil Is A Loser
3. Blood Red Sandman
4. It Snows In Hell
5. Would You Love A Monsterman?
6. Hard Rock Hallelujah
Special features:
Live at the Finnish Semi Final:
7. Hard Rock Hallelujah
8. Bringing Back The Balls To Rock
Live at the Finnish Final:
9. Hard Rock Hallelujah
“6 Hello Athens Documentaries”
Music Videos:
10. Would You Love A Monsterman? (2006)
11. Who`s Your Daddy?
12. Hard Rock Hallelujah
13. Blood Red Sandman
14. Devil Is A Loser
The Kin:
15. Shortfilm “The Kin”
16. Making of “The Kin”
17. Photos
18. Storyboards
