Album Review: Michael Monroe - One Man Gang

I know Michael Monroe has been around a long time, and he's a bit of a legend in certain circles. That said, I can honestly say I knew next to nothing of his music when "Blackout States" came out. It only took a few minutes, but that record immediately laid claim to being one of the best pure rock 'n roll albums of recent years, and it nearly won Album Of The Year accolades from me. I went back and listened to the records that came before, and none of them touched it. The stand-alone song included on Monroe's greatest hits package was even better than anything on "Blackout States", and was the best song of that year, which only made me even more anxious to hear if he and his band could carry over that momentum to another absolutely killer record. That time has finally arrived.

The album kicks off with the previewed pair of singles, the title track and "Last Train To Tokyo". They carry on from "Blackout States" wonderfully. The former is a gritty Sunset Strip rocker with plenty of snarl packed into its two-and-a-half minutes, while the latter is a big, hooky rocker that is the soundtrack to a fun night out. There isn't a lot of rock and roll I've been hearing that capture that kind of good time spirit, so hearing it in these tracks is a nice antidote to so much of the music we're all subjected to.

There's a new wrinkle with "Midsummer Nights", which is more of a heavy ballad than anything off the last album, and a rather stirring song that will surely get lighters... er, sorry, cell phones, waiving in the air. It's completely different, but "The Pitfalls Of Being An Outsider" will have similar crowd interaction, as that chorus is begging to have an audience shouting along with Michael and his band. It's a communal experience. Rock used to be that way, didn't it?

I also love the use of harmonica and saxophone to give some of the songs a little twist from the expected. When you've got a core sound to what your band does, simple things like adding a three second flash of something unusual is all it takes sometimes to make sure the songs stand out as individual. There's nothing to be scared of by breaking free of the guitar/bass/drums setup, and while Michael has been doing it for a long time anyway, he's got enough of a legacy that he can do whatever the hell he wants. No one is going to tell him no.

If you heard "Blackout States", the best thing I can say is that "One Man Gang" makes for a perfect one-two punch with that one. If you haven't heard it, why not? There are a lot of varieties and strains of rock, but if you're talking about good ol' rock and roll, there isn't anyone doing it better than Michael Monroe and this version of his band. "One Man Gang" is a reminder that rock can be about good times and having fun, a swaggering bravado where we play a character cooler and more interesting than we actually are, so we can live out some fantasies.

I want to join this "One Man Gang". It fucking rocks.