Poodles, The: Tour de Force

This may well be the easiest review in the history of mankind. Here goes; if you like The Poodles, you'll love Tour de Force! How's that work for you? I quite like it; it says exactly what I want to say about the record. It's Poodletastic, all Poodle-related tropes are in place. It's highly melodic yet still forceful and heavy in places. Jakob Samuelsson is still a commanding vocalist and thanks to long time cohort Mats Valentin everything is excellent in the sound department.

I can't conceive that The Poodles will ever hit the heights of their first two albums (Metal Will Stand Tall and Sweet Trade) but they are remarkably consistent even if they don't hit the peaks of Seven Seas or indeed the eponymous Metal Will Stand Tall. If there is a caveat to add it would be that there's precious little difference from the previous four albums but truthfully this is a very solid disc (or download) indeed. Strangely the best track "En För Alla För En" is only a bonus track and was the official theme song for the Swedish team at the2013 World Championships of Ice Hockey. It's ultra-catchy even if I have no idea what the song is about!

Track Listing:

1. Misery Loves Company
2. Shut Up!
3. Happily Ever After
4. Viva Democracy
5. Going Down
6. Leaving the Past to Pass
7. 40 Days and 40 Nights
8. Kings & Fools
9. Miracle
10. Godspeed
11. Now Is the Time
12. Only Just Begun
13. En För Alla För En (bonus track – physical edition only)

Added: May 26th 2013
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2108
Language: english

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