Poison called. They said they wanted their setlist back. Granted, if you've seen Squad Five-O's live show in the last couple years, you know that "Bombs Over Broadway" stems from their innate tendency to re-establish the reign of "Eighties Hair Metal".
Unfortunately, in a more broad and marketable sense, this album is hardly relevant. In my quest for an excuse to say, "hey! these boys are onto something", I found myself becoming more and more hard-pressed to find even a little bit of originality. That is not to say that these guys don't mimic a now archaic sound with considerable efficiency. They definitely know the formula. True, the first few songs are dripping with rock n roll attitude. But the problem is that it's not THEIR rock n roll attitude, they were just renting it along with the studio time. These songs are a veritable highlight footage for all of those that miss the old days when pants were ultra-tight (and shiny) and chicks "poofed" their bangs.
Instrumentally, "Bombs Over Broadway" has a bit of difficulty re-creating a lead heavy, guitar hero atmosphere. While the choruses have about as much testosterone as a bar-room brawl after a Harley Davidson convention, they just don't stick with you. And no Hair Metal album would be complete without the quintessential "this is the song you play for your mom instead" rock ballad. And yes, Squad Five-O delivers one of these gems in the end. Take "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, "Heaven Isn't Too Far Away" by Warrant, and...oh forget it. You get the picture. All in all, I'd say Squad Five-O's latest effort should have been released fifteen years ago, when teens in acid-washed jeans and faded Megadeth T-Shirts posed for pics not knowing that when they were one day confronted with them, they'd blush, cough uncomfortably, and stuff those pictures in a shoebox under the bed; right next to "Bombs Over Broadway".
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Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 2000Reviewed by Shawna T.Bombs away! Squad Five-O's new release Bombs Over Broadway is guaranteed to blow you away with a flashback to the eighties. Their new album sounds like a hair band clashing with retro punk. It's almost like someone put Poison, Rancid, Husker Du, Faster Pussycat, Crashdog, and the Clash into a wrestling rink. The quality and depth of this album is the most surprising thing I've heard since Alice…Bandoppler 2000Reviewed by Earl CampbellThe premise of reviving glam rock is enough to make any self-respecting member of a post-modern society cringe in chagrin (and in painful memory of their exuberance over cutting holes in jeans and going ape at Warrant concerts), but Squad Five-0 have always found a way to be the exception to the stereotype. Let's reflect. While ska and punk anthems were becoming more and more reviled, Squad was…Decapolis 2000Reviewed by Tom BastianThe first thing that came to my mind with this new Squad Five-O album is that it's a fun album. It's one you can put in and just have fun to. It rocks, you can sing along, and it's got plenty of attitude. As most of you already know Squad Five-O has gone from ska-punk to punk-ska and now to glam rock. Sure the band and some of their fans seem to be calling it rock n roll, but in reality it's glam…Decapolis 2000Reviewed by ChrisIt's been a while since I'd heard the talk about how Christian music is just a bad rip-off of the mainstream music of the time. Squad not only seems to want this conversation started again, but they've done so by propelling themselves 15 years into the past. This record is a lot of BAD 80's glam rock sounding stuff, without any of the virtues of the genre. The production quality is not even up to…Decapolis 2000Reviewed by Luke HarlowFrom the opening of the first, and title track, "Bombs Over Broadway" to the final song "Don't Look Back," it is clear that this record is about one thing: rock and roll. If one thing is certain, this album does rock. If every classic glam rock song was taken, influenced by punk, and then condensed into an 11-song album, the result would be "Bombs Over Broadway." Nothing is too complex here, just…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestGlam from the streets, that's perhaps the best description I can give this record. What you hear is raw rock 'n roll with a punky garage sound. And at the same time there's a glamrock twist to it. A song like Renegade has an Alice Cooper feel. The same goes for Restless Youth with its bluesy flavor. Some of the other songs are sleazier like the uptempo Lost Boys which is more in the punkrock…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Michial Farmer1. I'll make no bones about it. I absolutely hated Squad Five-0's first two albums. I found their poorly produced mix of ska and punk and insipid lyrics very nearly unlistenable. 2. Glam metal appears to be coming back into fashion. More and more punk bands are declaring their style as "glam punk," and with VH1 dedicating their Behind the Music show to more and more hair metal bands, it appears…Similar sounding releases
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