Highlights, No Lowlights
When this cd arrived in the post, I jumped up and down, hugged our postie (for once) as he hadn’t damaged me feckin magazine or posted cds, ran in the house, kissed me missus, and got overly excited at the prospect of another new Mustasch cd to review. Unfortunately, as I whizzed through the track listings I could see it was some sort of ‘Best Of’ compilation, but for me it was missing the last two (and best) studio albums of this brill Swedish band. Then it all sank in.
Its a release by their current record company ‘Regain’ putting out a sort of ‘Best of’ from the 3 albums and EP released under their tenure with EMI covering the period 2001-2005. If the last two albums ‘Parasite’ and ‘Latest Version Of The Truth’ were to be included then it would be a highlight indeed.
I’ve worked my way through Mustasch’s back catalogue, literally backwards, starting with ‘TLVOTT’ which I had the utmost pleasure in reviewing in 2007 and was one of my fave albums of last year, and is still played very regularly, in fact 12 months down the line it has only got better.
With ‘Lowlife Highlights’ it has definite value for money • 18 songs in total with a slightly over bias towards ‘Ratsafari’ which has 7 songs represented here. Mustasch have themselves a great sound, epitomised by Ralf Gyllenahammar, a rocked up Ian Astbury. What we have with these Swedish Mettalers is a right mix of styles, typically from 70’s and 80’s style Classic Rock. One thing which makes this album rise above the pile is its Classic Rock sound entwined with orchestral arrangements, something very rarely heard in modern rock music. I know it sounds strange but believe me, they haven’t half got the blend right. The history of the band is right here, and LH is a great intro to Mustasch. There are many highlights on an album like this, and they really have picked the best from their EMI sessions. ‘Dogwash’, ‘Black City’, ‘6:26’, ‘Down In Black’, etc., many of which are a staple of their current touring live set list.
I don’t want to talk the band down as this is an excellent introduction to either a new fan wanting seek out a classic metal band, or an addition to an existing fans collection. However, do it in an arse about face way, start from the back like I did, and purchase ‘Parasite’ and ‘The Latest version Of The Truth’, you will not be disappointed. Promise!