Boulevard-What's Up

Yesterrock
2012

This Boulevard should not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name. Rather this Swedish group hailed from Gothenburg and had a sound deeply indebted to not only AOR but also the likes of Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Poison, Europe, Winger and Hanoi Rocks. Originally this album was released in 1987 and like other Yesterrock re-releases comes packed with an improved sound and bonus material. In this case it is several demo cuts. Musically this one and done band had the hooks and looks to succeed. What happened then? Honestly, as much as I loved the music ("Solid As A Rock" is killer,"Fallen Angel" is quite good and "I'm What You Need" is unashamedly full on sugary pop rock) the one draw back is the on again-off again vocals of singer Roy El Hoshy. When he is in top form he blends in perfectly with his band mates and things really start cooking. Whenever he is off though his pitch problems become evident. Is it enough to say skip this one? With cuts like the smoking "Heart Of A Stranger" this one is worth a look up. "Running" is AOR in nature and so eighties it hurts and yet it made me fondly remember those years when big hair and cheesy keyboard rock could be found in my tape collection right next to my Bay Area thrash and punk mixes. Sure I rip on this era now and then and there were thousands of bands just like these Swedish rockers that made the genre fall flat on it's face. Still something about this one made me smile. Eighties hard rock and AOR fans should already be looking forward to this one and other Yesterrock titles.