Black 'N Blue – Hell Yeah!

Releasedate: 13-05-2011; Label: Frontiers Records
By: Sabine van Gameren

Black ‘n Blue is a glam metal band from Portland, Oregon. The band formed in 1981 out of Portland, Oregon and were originally known as Movie Star. The band splitted in the 1989. The band re-united a couple of times, first for one show only but in 2003 they actually started to make an album. “Hell Yeah!” it was, but it never really got released. The date kept being pushed forward but anno 2011 it seems that the time is really there for it. “Hell Yeah!” comes out via Frontiers Records.

The band never really had that big success in the time, no matter what names they were getting into the project. Gene Simmons as producer did not do the trick either and maybe it is to wonder why this band bothered to re-unite again. Simple, the love for the music is there and not just with the band members, but also a whole bunch of music fans enjoy listening the nostalgic sounds that come from acts like them. Hardrock a la catchy, but through the years not much has changed. Still some larger names reach wider than these guys and it may have to do with the fact that these songs are perhaps a little simplistic. Nevertheless, the band have also set an album that is catchy and although not the most special songs are included, it does have a good body and good skills. It just misses that killer hit that makes the band known all over and it isn’t to be found in “Hell Yeah!”. So basically, it is an album that listens easily and shows some hard rock as we hoped for but it is not the record that changes your life. Just fine.

Line Up:
Jaime St. James – Vocals
Shawn Sonnenschein – Guitars
Jeff “Woop” Warner – Guitars, keyboards
Patrick Young – Bass
Pete Holmes – Drums

Tracklist: 01.Monkey 02.Target 03.Hail Hail 04.Fool’s Bleed 05.C’mon 06.Jaime’s Got The Beer 07.Angry Drunk Son Of A Bitch 08.So Long 09.Trippin’ 45 10.Falling Down 11.Candy 12.Hell Yeah! 13.World Goes Round 14.A Tribute To Hawking