### Backdraft: This heaven goes to eleven

#### 07/04/11 || Khlysty

Looky here, I’ll come clean witchu from the get go, so that there won’t be no misunderstandings later. I’m the least capable guy to review this record. See, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, when I started listening to music, I was literally bombarded with lots and lots of “hard rockin’” music. From Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy, to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, I listened to the best and I listened to the rest and, after a while I developed a serious allergy towards all things bloozy and southern and hard-rockin’. Even today, millions of light-years later, I develop a serious rash when inflicted with this kind of music. And, lemme tell ya, I’m gonna pull off a Columbine next time I hear on the radio, say, “Smoke On The Water”, or “Sweet Home Alabamer”, or any other of them oldies-goldies of the ‘70s.

So when the first notes of “Idiot” hit me in the face I groaned, while starting scratching random parts of my body, as the rash started developing. Backdraft, it’s obvious, love to death this kind of music and they know pretty much all its ins and outs and abouts. The mello-yello songs of “This Heaven…” will easily transport you to an older day and age, with bell-bottom jeans and boots bigger than sofas, with “warm-sounding” guitars and vocals that combine the melodious with the manly. A day and age of long hair and beards and silly shirts and denim vests and all the paraphernalia of the ‘70s hard rock scene. Listening to this record, I detected here and there influences ranging from southern rock and hard-rockin’ blooz to Bad Company and early Aerosmith and even Nazareth. The whole hawg, I tell ya!!!

Now, I know that a lot of people like this kind of music and I’m gonna admit that Backdraft has down to pat all its specifics, from da groove, to da leads, to da soulful singing,… you get the idea. I also have to add that, being Swedes, Backdraft lets a small undercurrent of garage rock abandon run through a few of the cuts, which, to me, is a good thing to happen. And, let’s be honest here: if you like this kind of music, “This Heaven…” will easily take you to pig heaven, what with its guitarwork and the great production. Sadly, though, this is music that, when not passionately hating it, leaves me totally uninterested. Bottom line is that, if one’s looking for a good take on trad hard rock, Backdraft offers it in spades. Too bad, then, that this is not for me…

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: GMR Music
- Website: http://backdraft.se
- Band
- Jonas Åhlén: vocals
- Jon Sundberg: guitar
- Robert Johansson: guitar
- Mats Rydström: bass
- Niklas Matsson: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Idiot
- 02. Yesterdays and Tomorrows
- 03. Even Cowboys Get the Blues
- 04. Stand
- 05. No Love
- 06. Wheel of No Fortune
- 07. On The Flipside
- 08. The King of Diesel
- 09. Out of Here
- 10. Blue Sky (only on vinyl)