Once a promising yet rough young band, now they’re ready to conquer the world.
Vanity Blvd burst onto the Swedish Sleaze Metal scene a few years ago – yet another Scandi band riding the wave of 1980s nostalgia, trying to become the Female-Fronted equivalent of Cräshdiet? Maybe, but VB proved there’s more to them than meets the eye – they survived the struggle and now return with their second effort ‘Wicked Temptation’. With the previous album, their debut ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Overdose’, the Swedes served us a slice of slightly generic Sleaze Metal – but have they, as fine wine generally does, improved with time?
Press play and you will know – oh yes, they do. The opening track ‘Dirty Rat’ has front-woman Anna Savage doing her best Lita Ford vocal impersonations against the background of sleazy guitar riffs that neither the early Hanoi Rocks nor Cräshdiet would be ashamed of. With ‘Miss Dangerous’ the last thing this band is about to do is to slow down and this tendency continues throughout the entire album. Just listen to ‘Thrills In The Night’ driven by the mad, raunchy guitar riffs or the powerful, anthemic chorus of ‘Do Or Die’.
There is also ‘Had Enough’ which seems to be a rip-off of... (insert the title of any Lita Ford power ballad here) as it starts but develops into a full-blown Hard Rock track enriched with a modern-sounding guitar solo. The rare moments of slowdown consist of the emotionally laden mid-tempo ‘Desperate Heart’ (which may remind you at times of the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja’s better moments) and the Pop Rock piece ‘Falling Down’ (somewhat forgettable if it hadn’t been for the splendid guitar solo).
‘Wicked Temptation’ is definitely an outstanding record in many respects – a cross between the rough street-wise attitude of the early Mötley Crüe and Lita Ford’s sensual vocals, enhanced by the 21st century production and a generous portion of feisty melodies. It’s dirty, gritty and downright nasty Hard Rock album with a solid sleazy vibe to it – and a proof Vanity Blvd have come a long way since ‘...Overdose’ or their earlier self-produced EPs. Once a promising yet rough young band, now they’re ready to conquer the world and believe me we’re going to hear more about them yet, enumerated among the best players of the Sleaze Rock league. Mad, bad and... obligatory to know.
Alexandra Mrozowska
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