Review Summary: Incredible album by short-lived band that sadly just missed the big sleaze and hair metal revival.
Anybody in for some glam pimpin', sleaze adoring, attitude loving, in your face rock music? Well, don't look any further, because The Golden Gods have arrived (and vanished again, but more about that later).
'...the Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll' throws all clichés on a heap and adds some more to be sure it's not merely over the top. No, the goal is shooting it all to outer space with a rocket launcher. With that concept, any other band would have ended up digging their own grave. But not The Golden Gods. They are outstanding musicians and -equally important- know how to write some damn catchy tunes that will bury themselves in your head forever, easily able to match up with instant classics from the past like Kiss's 'Rock & Roll All Nite', Ted Nugent's 'Cat Scratch Fever' or Rose Tattoo's 'Nice Boys'. Also there's enough variation to keep the attention span stretched to the max throughout the record. After starting with glamrock blockbusters like 'Even I Don't Know' and 'Dynamite Lady', the emphasis gradually shifts to some heavier stuff with a slight stoner twist when 'Trouble & Bad Women' and 'Liver's On Fire' chop your speakers in half towards the end. In between and afterwards there's more slammin' hardrock as well as a cowbell-driven stomper ('Stone Fox') and a nice version of the disco classic 'I Feel the Earth Move'. All performed with the same intensity - with joy flushing in capitals out of every visible and invisible pore this three piece has discovered in their flesh. Bass and drums are slicing through the fluid like an expensive yacht at full speed, guitar solos blazing past even faster, and some suitably clear vocals to mesmerise the ladies along the way. Add to this a stunning production and sexy backing vocals by Pamela Hawkins and Janie Hendrix (for this special occasions baptized 'The Golden Broads'), and you will know once and for all that originality is a highly overrated phenomenon. It's better to grab what you can and make it your own instead of forcing yourself to bend in directions where the heart refuses to go. And that's exactly what The Golden Gods do on this record: make music from the heart.
Taking that in mind, it might not be such a pity after all that the band decided to call it quits shortly after the official release of this album through The Control Group. Quite the contrary, it fits well in a strange kind of way: they arrived with a bang and left with a huge explosion, leaving the audience gasping for breath - they nailed their paws in the history of rock. Nothing or nobody's gonna take that away.
So to all you sinners: spread the word.
We'll proudly carry the torch.
