HARDBONE – Tailor Made (Album Review)

Well, it happens every year after issuing Decibel Geek’s Top Ten Albums. I’m again listening to albums for the first time that perhaps should have been considered. Here’s another one, Hardbone‘s Tailor Made. Would it have made the list? I don’t think so, but it should have at least been considered as it would have surely placed in the top twenty. In any case, I only experienced my first listen today, New Year’s Day. Furthermore four subsequent listens followed throughout the day. That’ll cure the hangover!

Hard to say exactly where and/or when Hardbone crossed my path. They’ve realized albums in my collection for awhile, I can tell you that. Ok, as you may expect with a moniker such as Hardbone, they aren’t exactly the most technical band on the landscape. You know what else? I’m 100% OK with that!

This German band that one could draw insane comparisons to AC/DC with began life six years ago with 2010’s Dirty ‘n’ Young. Following that, they served up 2012’s This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll, 2014’s Bone Hard and now 2016’s Tailor Made. The CD/vinyl versions of Tailor Made (out on Remedy Records) were made available on December 16th while streaming abilities could be found since late October. Holding membership cards in this German dirty, no frills rock n’ roll band we find a roster of five. Vocals are provided by Tim Dammann, Benjamin Ulrich pounding the skins, Tim Schwarz (anyone else just think Spaceballs?) rolling out the four string thunder and the guitar attacks of Sebastian Kranke and Tommy Lindemann.

Their Facebook page boldly states: HARDBONE – 100% is not enough! 110% Rock ‘n’ Roll is what these five guys from Hamburg, Germany have to offer. Not surprisingly, the page also lists other bands they like as AC/DC, Rhino Bucket, Rose Tattoo, Airbourne and ZZ Top.

Hardbone – Tailor Made

Like the rest of their back catalog, which I highly recommend for fans of straight-ahead riff rock that would be at home in the company of AC/DC, Tailor Made is not groundbreaking. That’s not to say that the music is poorly written or played. On the contrary, Hardbone do what they do very well and are much more than the AC/DC clone that many will lump them into. Perfectly falling into place with the rest of Hardbone‘s output, Tailor Made is fun and absolutely demands to have the volume cranked to achieve the best results.

Album lead track, “No Man’s Land” gets things going in the right direction. The foot stomping and head banging don’t subside for the entire near 40-minute runtime. That’s right, no ballads contained within folks! Although tracks like “Tailor Made Woman” and “Barfly” thunder past at a slower pace, there’s nothing ballad about them. Other standout tracks are “It’s A Man Thing”, the ridiculously catchy “What’s Going On”, the relentless “Cannonball”, and the uplifting “We’re All Gonna Die”.

In conclusion, serve with ice cold beers and fucking crank it up!

BUY: Tailor Made