Crazy Lixx: Loud Minority (Frontiers)

Swedish sleaze rockers Crazy Lixx made their full-length debut in 2007 with Loud Minority, an album that very much followed in the footsteps of countrymen Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar as well as the great glam metal/hair metal bands of yesterday. Crazy Lixx would go on to polish their sound quite a bit (and arguably surpass their peers) on later albums, but with Loud Minority we get a rawer, grittier and yes sleazier Crazy Lixx.

You can still hear what would become the signature Crazy Lixx sound on Loud Minority, especially when the backing vocals kick in, but this is way more sleaze rock than melodic rock. That’s not a bad thing. They take the expected L.A. Guns and Skid Row influence and give it the Swedish sleaze treatment. The result is pure high octane party rock. “Death Row,” “Heroes Are Forever” and “Do Or Die” are the highlights, but the whole album is a lot of fun. That “it factor” was there from the start.

Crazy Lixx got a lot better with later albums, but they still had a great sound and great overall style when they debuted. Loud Minority is a rock-solid debut and shows that even in the beginning Crazy Lixx deserved to be ranked up there with Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

Reissue Notes: Long out of print, the Frontiers label finally put Loud Minority back in fans’ reach this year, and they did it with style, adding a hefty five bonus tracks. Just having the album available again is good enough, but the additional material (a mix of demos, unplugged and unreleased songs) is a nice touch. It’s probably even enough to be worth upgrading if you were one of the few that grabbed Loud Minority the first time around.