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Krokus > Change of Address > Reviews > Felix 1666
Krokus - Change of Address

Where did they buy these clothes? - 38%

Felix 1666, May 1st, 2014

Admittedly, I am confronted with a serious problem. Does anybody have a good idea how to write a review about an album you hate that was released by a band you love? No? I´m not either. Well, let´s face it. Rose Tattoo were right: nice boys don't play Rock´n Roll. Nevertheless, Marc Storace officially stated that Krokus exactly wanted to play this role. How can it be possible, that one can be so stupid? However, their hair-dresser was financially secure for life. Even worse, they wore the most ridiculous clothes ever. But the worst is yet to come. Let´s talk about the music.

The nice boys from Switzerland consistently performed light and pleasing songs that were additionally softened by the harmless and greasy production of glam metal specialist Tom Werman. Due to the often used synthesizer, everything sounded cheesy and slimy. The foreseeable melody lines were mediocre at best while the rhythm section performed sleepily. One might say that some of the melodies were nevertheless well done, but the songs completely lacked of authenticity. Just compare this output with "Headhunter", their harshest full-length. You will not recognize the band. All song arrangements were as original as the choice of the cover song, the terrible "School´s Out" with its nerve-shattering children´s choir. Every rock fan had already heard this more or less stupid song much too often and the version of the nice boys did not deliver any new aspects. But this piece was not the only one we had heard before. The opening riff of "Say Goodbye" was already used by the nice boys themselves (listen to "Tokyo Nights", published on "Metal Rendez-vous") and it is unbelieveable that seemingly nobody realized this type of recycling. Very significantly, this unvoluntary reminder of better times was among the few good riffs. Those who seek very thoroughly will furthermore find acceptable riffs in "Hot Shot City", "Hard Luck Hero" and the swinging opener "Now". It can therefore be said that these tunes relieve the pain, but it would be an exaggeration to mention them as exceptional. Maybe because of this compositional incompetence Krokus replaced two of the band members not much later and Chris von Rohr fortunately returned.

The boring lyrics did not offer something surprising. They dealt with such extraordinary themes as love, party time and heartache and were obviously only used to have a reason for the contribution of Marc Storace to this album - and there is absolutely nothing further to say.

To summarize, the best part of this album was that the ludicrous concept of the "nice boys" died a sudden death after the commercial failure of this output. Well, I have to admit that they climbed to number 45 in the American Billboard Charts. Nonetheless, the album did not meet the expectations and the following evolution proved that Krokus had not been invented to play trendy pop songs with only a few metallic ingredients. They should have released "Change of Address" under a different name.