Bloodgood

Item: To Germany With Love
Author: Michial Farmer

To Germany With Love

(1993)

Reviewed by Michial Farmer

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music

Label Stephans-BuchhandlungThe Phantom Tollbooth2000

hard rock heavy metal melodic metal

Bloodgood is one of those bands that never really got the attention they deserved. Although they had a fairly strong following in Europe in the early 1990s, audiences in America never really jumped on the bandwagon. It's hard to understand why, actually. Their contemporaries, such as Stryper and Barren Cross, received a warm reception from American crowds, and surely "Anguish and Pain" was no cheesier than "To Hell With the Devil." Good news, though, Bloodgood fans! Magdalene Records has re-released the band's live album, To Germany, With Love!, in the hopes of perhaps gaining a few more fans. Unfortunately, I doubt that the album will attract many new fans at all--it may even embarrass older fans into burning their LPs!

For starters, the sound quality is absolutely terrible. Some bands, after recording a "live" album, return to a studio to touch up their mistakes, and end up essentially recording another studio record. It's obvious that Bloodgood didn't do this, but the sound quality is so poor that it sounds like it wasn't even taken from the sound board. This may not matter to hardcore fans of the band, but potential new listeners will likely be turned off by the quality.

And then there's the music. To Germany, With Love! was recorded in 1993, and it had to sound dated then, so you can just imagine how it comes across seven years later. It's been fifteen years since some of these songs were written, and we'll just say that they haven't aged all that well. When lead singer Les Carlson says "We're gonna do one ballad" right before "I Want to Live in Your Heart," it's all you can do to keep from cringing, knowing the power ballad that's about to come through your speakers.

So no, To Germany, With Love! won't do much in the way of attracting new listeners to Bloodgood's charms. However, if you're a longtime fan, and aren't afraid to take a long hard look at the past, order the album and take a trip down memory lane.