I blame Steel Panther. If we're in on the joke and we're all laughing together then parody, funny stuff like 'Feel The Steel' works. We all get it, WE can laugh at ourselves and appreciate all the nuances of it BUT we fucking hate the rest of the music world. This is our pot and we'll piss in it if we want too but no one else can!!! That was my initial reaction after receiving this album; is this band fucking serious???

Okay, you get my point, I'm going to assume he is serious and with a cheap photoshopped looking cover and a promo rant of epic proportions, Julian Angel's Beautiful Beast are FULL ON 80s rock. He makes Justin Hawkins seem like a half hearted cock rock revivalist. Hair metal, AOR, glam; call it what you want but if you like any of the poppy, fluffy stuff of back in the day, you might as well just stop reading this and go out and buy it. Yeah, it covers it all - Poison, Tuff, Pretty Boy Floyd, Cats In Boots, Europe even - all the bands that we secretly loved back in the day get an airing and it'll make you look for that lost Roxy Blue CD before the end of the day.

I'm now so deep in the 80s after listening to this that cowboy boots, Aquanet and sleeveless shirts are the norm. If I turn on the TV, I bet Sledge Hammer! or RAW Power will be on. No Channel 5, no Sky Sports and The Chart Show will no doubt be Metal Week - Am I getting across to you how soaked in the Eighties this disc is??

Oh, but you want a serious journalistic approach to this review -The music is GOOD, the lyrics you've heard a thousand times before but it's all about love, lost love, dreams and life as a youngster. What more do you want from the 80s? Catchy choruses, great guitar work, sing along anthems Bon Jovi would pay Desmond Child to write for him and a strangely enticing German accent all go together to make this so good that he HAS to be serious. 'Tokyo Nights', 'Showdown', 'Do You Want It'; ah fuck it, every song on this disc is prime 1989 - That's how the band wanted it to sound and they've nailed it.

Damn, I'm a sucker for the good stuff. Ignore the cover, sit back, listen and enjoy a slice of yesteryear.

I really wanted to hate it but now I want the t-shirt!!

www.beautifulbeastrock.com