That pretty much sums up the new body of work in my opinion; if you like Krokus & are a fan of classics like “Screaming in the Night” or “Midnight Maniac”, you will be absolutely thrilled to hear fresh material that showcases their somewhat derivative brand of blues-inspired rock n’ roll.  If you found them to be a tad formulaic, then this may not be such a blessing for you.

First, and most amazingly, the band sounds great!  Vocalist Marc Storace has apparently had his vocal chords in cryonics for the past 20 as he sounds identical to how he did in the 80′s.  Guitarists Mark Kohler & Fernando von Arb (LOVE that guy’s name) still have the chops despite a deficiency of fret-burning in this release.  Especially interesting is the band’s cover of the Steppenwolf staple “Born To Be Wild” – still prefer the original, sorry guys.  Other notable tracks are “Hoodoo Woman”, the AC/DC-ish “Rock ‘N’ Roll Handshake” , the very singable “Too Hot” & my fav of the disc – “Ride Into The Sun” (which could almost pass as a sequel of sorts to ‘Screaming in the Night’).

In fact my biggest complaint with ‘Hoodoo’ is just that there’s no new instant classic track to rival some of the band’s earlier works.   Not that this is a terrible thing but it doesn’t help with a reputation as “The World’s Greatest OPENING Act” due to a shortage of headlining gigs in the good ole’ US.  Doubtful this release will remedy that situation but here’s my wish; they get back into the swing of recording/touring together & then release a follow-up that’s more up-tempo, aggressive and lets the six strings run free.

If that happens – i’ll be a believer that Krokus does in fact still possess the ‘Hoodoo’.  As it is, the potential is there, I just need them to blow the dust off their speakers.  Make it so boys!

I can remember when these guys were playing sold-out shows in stadiums all across the country. Seems surreal that they will be calling it quits soon. Although soon might be a bit of stretch since they’ve allowed for ‘several years’ of touring to support the new album.

As sad as I am to hear such talk of a final tour, I hope they do make it a true ‘final’ tour. Don’t pull a KISS and have a series of ‘final tours’ followed by hired guns to fill in for founding band members. Go out with your guns blazing, I say.

And bring the tour to Columbus so I can see you once more.

Since then the band has still been releasing albums that pretty much no one on this side of the Atlantic has known, or seemingly cared, much about. But all that’s about to change as D.A.D. are releasing Bad Craziness Beer (Holy Sammy Hagar, Batman!) which you can purchase an 18 pack of HERE provided you’re handy in Danish. . . and currency conversion. I find it ironic, and somewhat satisfying, that a band who inspired me to write this blog are releasing their own BEER. Way to make me proud, Jesper!

Also forthcoming from the boys is the ‘Overmuch Box’ limited edition uber-box set containing 12 CD’s (their entire collection to date), a cowskull shaped USB key with 2 gigs of goodies and 160 page book, all held within a cowskull tin (seeing a theme here?). And it can be yours for just about $170 American dollars!

Look, love this band but I can’t drop $1.70 American dollars right now. Consider me envious, you lucky bastards who actually go out and buy this one. Think of me as you listen to the remastered ‘Rim of Hell, will ya’?

To me what is interesting is that he’s bothering to respond to these questions at all.  Of course, with a new album that just dropped (and not performing as strongly as might have been hoped), Axl’s motivation can be viewed somewhat suspicously.  Still, he DID take the time so let’s put our conspiracy theories on hold, shall we?

Of all that he discusses (which does indeed sound like a shitstorm of backstabbing and money grubbing management), it’s what he only mentions briefly and doesn’t really answer that kind of left me hanging.  I’m talking about  the accusations that ‘Axl wouldn’t go on stage’.  Uhm, Axl – I once waited 6 hours for your band to come out on the ‘Use Your Illusion’ Tour in Dayton.  Your assertion that it “Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it” probably needs a little more substantiating.  We ALL waited on that entire tour, not just Dayton . . . now if you’re not the reason, that’s fine.  It would be nice to know what the real reason was. . . that’s all I’m saying.  My ass never really recovered from all that sitting.  Sitting, mind you, with NO BEER BEING SERVED!  That’s just inhumane.  My buddy Steve put it best when he looked over at me about 3 hours in and said “You do realize we’re just sitting around waiting on 5 guys with tattoos”.

So that omission aside, the rest of Axl’s post reads like a rant & kinda jumps around a lot – but I’m still marveling that he did it.  What it all exactly means, well that’s another discussion entirely.

I was thinking about Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars today, specifically his long & undoubtedly painful battle with the arthritis Ankylosing Spondylitis. I guess Thanksgiving had me counting my blessings more than usual.

Seriously tho, the usually reserved fretburner lives daily with a situation that would send many of us into a surging downward spiral of self pity yet I’ve never read any interview with him that indicates such is his viewpoint. To me, he comes off as down-to-earth & not making a big deal about his burden. The man is a quiet hero.

And as I started thinking about it, I also started comparing his old look – that of almost a heavy metal vampire – to his newer ‘Alice Cooper meets voodoo blues guitarist’ vibe. Not just anybody could pull that look off, especially wearing a hat that could instantly make one think instead of Slash from Guns n’ Roses/Velvet Revolver. But for Mick, it really works. A cool image with a hat that reeks of mojo & still the amazing playing skills to back it all up as more than just for show. I’m sure maybe he has fashion consultants et al, but still – for as long as the dude has been in the business, he still doesn’t come off as some pathetic shadow of his former glory. He’s still relevant – probably more so now than anytime in the past ten years or so. And he makes it look good.

Well anyhow, just thought I’d throw all this out there. Hope I can age with half as much grace as Mr. Mick Mars.

Anyways, the ‘major’ announcement is heavily, heavily rumored to be a tour (Cruefest)and the fact that the band will be the next 360-deal (also called a ‘Multiple Rights’ deal) for Live Nation Artists, alongside the likes of Madonna and most likely U2 and Jay-Z.

Oh goodie – the Crue’s gonna get more money, Live Nation is going to get more powerful and we as fans are gonna foot the bill for both. Yee-Haw!

Watch these developments closely kiddies because they’re the polar opposite of what Trent Reznor/Radiohead are trying to do. As I see it, Reznor is working to find a way to minimize the involvement of corporate sponsorship in the distribution and development of his work. On the other hand, a 360-deal (for the uninitiated), involves a band signing over a percentage of future earnings (not just music sales, mind you) for expanded support, cross marketing and upfront monies enabling it to be cast more in the light of a marketable product instead of solely a musical entity. The end effect making the relationship of the label & artist that much more closely intertwined, the band essentially a joint-venture for both parties. Supposedly, it allows newer acts time to mature and progress into major players versus the Top 40 hit today, gone tomorrow mentality of churn & burn record sales. And for a more established act like the Crue, it means less reliance on record sales and more of an opportunity to exploit a dedicated fanbase. In advertising, they use the term ‘branding’ but it sure smells of selling out to me.

Hey, far be it for me to criticize anyone for trying to make more money off of their own work, but isn’t this like letting the merchants sell in the temples? Are we to believe that no ‘suit’s will be in the studios, or orchestrating the live shows, choosing venues & playlists? I mean, more than they already are? I think not. I can’t help but sense an impending dark cloud of squashed creativity, artistic sameness and general lack of substance as more and more fledgling acts sign away their souls for greater runway space in which to launch their respective careers.

The NY Times did a great article on this subject back in November – check it out HERE (unless they get squirrely and make you sign in first. The link worked for me.)

In short, if you’re a fan of end of the world movies like I am, you could consider tomorrow’s announcement akin to another sign of the impending musical Apocalypse – another foreshadowing of Judgement Day.

And me, I’m just Linda Hamilton going around acting crazy and talking about killer robots.