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Shotgun Revolution

The Legacy Of Childhood Dreams

Written by: PP on 11/09/2012 02:15:30

Say what you want about the Danish music scene, but there is certainly no shortage of revivalist hard rock / rock'n'roll bands around. Much of this can probably be attributed to the disproportionate influence of the now-defunct The Rock (and its successor Sin City eventually), and especially its wildly popular Rock The Night club nights which blasted Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Motörhead, and Mötley Crüe songs like there was no tomorrow. One product of such an environment where looking back at the 80s legends is still considered cool is Shotgun Revolution, who are one of the more successful bands in the country worshipping at the altar of rock'n'roll on a daily basis. Their previous album "Join The Revolution" was well received in that particular scene, and sophomore effort "The Legacy Of Childhood Dreams" is looking to receive similar treatment because it basically picks up where the band left off two years ago, and expands into bigger-sounding tunes and anthemic ballads played according to the stylistic guidelines for the genre.

Considering their influences, "The Legacy Of Childhood Dreams" predictably sounds exactly like you'd expect a release to sound like by people who grew up listening to nothing but Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, and the list goes on. Rowdy vocals, groovy guitar lines, and a 50/50 split between classic hard rock and its more uptempo sister genre, rock'n'roll. Songs like "Give Me More", for example, sound so obviously like Aerosmith it's impossible to avoid making the connection. Nowhere near as good as the legends, of course, but fans of this style (the Rock The Night crowd) should lap this up with few objections, since it basically ignores musical evolution for the past 30 years and assumes we're living in a time bubble inside the 80s.

But where bands like Wolfmother successfully produce a retrospective sound that both feels fresh and modern at the same time, Shotgun Revolution just sounds bland and generic, content at just rehashing material from the old guard without adding anything meaningful to the mix. It's a passable effort, but for anyone who has moved on since the 80s that's a difficult issue to overcome. They are certainly competent at their craft, but there's nothing here to suggest to me why I should listen to "The Legacy Of Childhood Dreams" instead of popping on, say, "Pump", "Back In Black", or even "Appetite For Destruction" if I absolutely wanted to go back and relive that era of music.

Download: Give Me More
For the fans of: Aerosmith, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses
Listen: Facebook

Release date 16.04.2012
Target Records