Hardcore Superstar – Beg For It

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After getting harder and heavier on the excellent Dreamin’ From A Casket album, securing bigger tours, and signing a deal with Nuclear Blast, a lot hinges on Beg For It. The album has however taken a step back to the more radio-friendly catchiness of earlier albums No Regrets and Hardcore Superstar. While not entirely a bad thing, it was the heavy groove on songs like Need No Company, the title track, and Sorry For The Shape I’m In from the last album which increased their popularity over the last two or three years, and it’s not until closing track Innocent Boy that any of that hard Mötley Crüe-ish groove appears here, which is a bit disappointing. The intro track, an homage to Ennio Morricone, is probably their best and will serve as a superb intro tape for live shows, and its spaghetti western southern melody does feed into the main riff of the album’s title track, which is angry, heavy and fast and exactly what the album should be leading with. The catchy, punky edge of songs like Into Debauchery, Illegal Fun and Nervous Breakdown, dry ballad Hope For A Normal Life and songs which aim too squarely at Def Leppard choruses (Spit It Out) lower the average quality of the disc as a whole, but other strong tracks in Don’t Care ‘Bout Your Bad Behaviour, Take ‘Em All Out and Shades of Grey ensure it’s not a complete loss. This is probably a middle-ground between the earlier albums and Dreamin’ In A Casket, and feels equally likely to divide fans as it is to unite them.

Written by Andy Lye
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