The Classic Heavy Metal sound from the early Eighties reverberates throughout this curiously nostalgic but enjoyable release. ‘35’ opens with a Judas Priest riff on ‘Running To Paradise’ but much like the rest of the album, it incorporates a plethora of well-known Rock bands from Bon Jovi, Dokken, Helloween and The Scorpions. As the keyboards kick in just before the chorus you’re transported back to the Sunset Strip 1986, The Rainbow, Whiskey-A-Go-Go and Key Club. The video that plays in my mind is that of a blonde running down a foggy neon-lit street in fear of her of her life but just as hope is lost and the baddies are closing in a bare-chested Rocker on a Harley scoops her up in his tattooed covered arms, winks at the camera before wheel spinning off into the L.A night. Next up is the cliched smothered lead single ‘Beat Of The Heart’ which literally drips in Eighties kitsch and Soft Rock mic twirls. ‘D.A.M.N’ (short for Devil’s After Me Now) continues the glorious Bill and Ted time warp while ‘Snowdance’ goes for a faster, heavier Metal edge with some truly first class Top Gun lyrics.
The biographical ‘Thirty 5’ plods with Saxonisms and has the timeless words “ We’re fu*king 35, and still alive…on we ride!”. ‘Already Gone’ kicks out with early Crue and melodic sensibilities before a semi-anarchic ‘False Freedom’ chugs and wheezes towards Doctor Feelgoods surgery door. ‘Goodbye To You’ and (a live?) the ballad-esque ‘Rocky Road’ give way to album closer and bonus track ‘Paris Is Burning’. Not sure of why I love this album so much, maybe it’s because it reminds me of a simpler time when Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and Def Leppard ruled the Rock roost just before the onslaught of the all-conquering Hair versus Thrash Metal showdown. Whether it’s deliberate or not Mad Max have just shaken the Eighties genie out of his Jack Daniels bottle and reawoken Rock feelings and musical memories long since buried and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my Kerrang! stained heart.
MAD MAX
35
Steamhammer/SPV
8/10