"By the Grace of God" from the album By the Grace of God
2004's By the Grace of God is the fifth CD release from these punk rockers from Sweden, and one of my favourites. It's not on the same level as Grande Rock or High Visibility. That said, it is still a fine album, and better than most other efforts that are released to the public. I wouldn't hesitate to call it one of my most loved albums of the decade.
The guitar-centric effort begins with the opening piano key of the title track and immediately launches into a fury of percussive energy. That fury never lets up. The entire album manages to maintain an awesome sense of consistency. Robert Eriksson has done a great job in the back on this album, and he manages to hold his own against the twin guitars of Andersson and Dahlqvist.
After the wicked opening track, the band launches into my personal favorite "All New Low", which trails away in an fantastic guitar and piano duel. "Down on Freestreet" contains some beautiful wailing guitars, the Chuck Berry cover "Better Than You" is a great bottle of explosive energy, "Carry Me Home" has a nice and soft melody, which oozes of optimism. That perfect twinning of hard-rock guitar and piercing piano continues through the latter half of this album. They are always complimenting each other, by feeding each other in a delicious cycle. In my opinion, it's bloody brilliant.
The Hellacopters have established themselves as one of the premiere Garage-punk bands over the last decade, and their recent decision to call it quits is a shame. The rabid listeners will lament the loss of such a wonderful band. But we will all continue to praise the fine music that they have created, the energy they brought to the genre, and the revitalization that they helped to create.
"Carry Me Home" from the album By the Grace of God
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