At the end of the day, I thank my lucky Metal stars that Krokus has existed – and still exists as a Heavy Metal Band. I have listened to Krokus since the early ’80’s, with Headhunter, (released on November 30, 1983), being my favorite Krokus album ever. Krokus has always maintained their straight-up brand of Heavy Metal over the decades, (spanning 4 decades), mixing in a power ballad here and there for good Metal measure. The comparisons to AC/DC over the years have been rather unfair, although I can understand why this comparison exists. (Marc Storace on lead vocals for Krokus does have resemblance to the legendary and late Bon Scott). Krokus has easily differentiated their songs on past albums, Screaming In The Night from Headhunter, Our Love from The Blitz album and Burning Up The Night from the Change of Address album are three cool examples to point out. Plus, Krokus has never been bashful in the past about doing cover songs… they kicked some Metal ass with School’s Out by Alice Cooper, Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and American Woman by The Guess Who. In a Metal nutshell, AC/DC is a legendary – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Band… Krokus has longevity, a strong and hard work ethic and a catalog of Heavy Metal albums worth their weight in Metal gold. Two different bands, Krokus just never received the popular vote… they are the band that Metalheads from decades past know are damn great at what they do. Krokus does not need acceptance from a Hall of Fame building to feel like they belong or accomplished anything… the fans know the difference.
Phew, now that this Krokus introduction is out of my Metal system, I can get excited now about telling the world about their 2003 album – Rock The Block (on Warner Brothers). You see, I have kept cool Metal tabs on Krokus throughout the years, still, an album will be put on my want list and wind up not being purchased for some unreal reason or another. Skipping over Rock The Block, I wound up buying right away the Hellraiser album by Krokus back in 2006. (Hellraiser by the way is one damn good Krokus album too). Fast forward to October of 2009 and I still do not own the Rock The Block album… until, once again, step in my best buddy – Scott. He sent me the Rock The Block CD via mail last week. On Friday, October 4, 2009 – I officially owned this album on CD and cranked it up for all it’s Heavy Metal worth.
Within a four year period, from 2003 to 2006, Krokus has released two great Heavy Metal albums. All the while, there are those bands who release that one album every ten to fifteen years and because they are elite, the mainstream press goes ape crap over it. With Krokus, there is no Walmart exclusive contract, yet they bring the Old School Heavy Metal that never fails to kick my ass into Heavy Metal shape. Rock The Block never made the cover of any prima donna – mainstream Rock magazines… thank god. This album gets it’s just due here, on Metal Odyssey. Krokus will forever get their just due on Metal Odyssey. All 14 songs are Krokus Heavy Metal… there is no in between. Mad World opens up this album and has me amazed at how strong and relevant the lyrics are. I instantly became absorbed into the Heavy Metal world of Krokus while listening to this album. Mad World is as intensely good a Krokus song I have ever heard. To go through each song that is on Rock The Block would be nonsensical here, this album is as complete a Krokus Heavy Metal album as there ever was. Rock The Block – Rocked my Heavy Metal world this past Friday… as a first time listen nearing seven years after it’s release.
Krokus, as they appeared on Rock The Block:
Marc Storace – lead vocals
Fernando Von Arb – lead guitar
Tony Castell – bass guitar
Dominique Favez – rhythm guitar
Patrick Aeby – drums
Krokus – Rock The Block Track Listing:
- Mad World
- Leading the Pack
- I Want It All
- Open Fire
- One For All
- Looking to America
- Go My Way
- Hot Shot
- Raise Your Hands
- Night of the Snakes
- Throwing Her China
- We’ll Rise
- Freedom
- Rock the Block
The Kinks – another legendary Rock and Roll Band, (and Hard Rock Band too), that I have never forgotten about… no Metal way. I first caught on to this great band upon their Low Budget album being released – back on September 7, 1979. The Kinks were huge back in the day… I specifically remember the late 1970’s into the 1980’s version of The Kinks. This band had one hell of a work ethic – always touring. There used to be a horde of kids wearing The Kinks concert shirts to High School back in the early ’80’s… as a Metalhead back then, I thought that was cool, due to my fondness for this band. I never was lucky enough to catch The Kinks in concert… back in the early 80’s would have been the choice time too. That is alright, I can always Rock out to The Kinks by listening to their songs whenever I want, like I have been doing since 1979. The Kinks were rightfully inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1990. I could not endorse a band like The Kinks any louder to the younger generation of Rock/Classic Rock fans… they really put out some incredible music spanning four decades.
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