  
It has been a massive 4 years since The Pretty
Reckless burst on the scenes with their debut
album ‘Light Me Up’ and since then
the band have gone on to play some outstanding
shows all across the world yet for the last couple
of years the band have taken a bit of a back seat
whilst front lady Taylor Momsen concentrated on
her acting career, however the band are now back
with their second studio album ‘Going To
Hell’ and this time around they seriously
mean business as the album is so much more rock
orientated than their previous material and judging
by the album artwork which features a naked Taylor
Momsen there is a lot more sex appeal this time
around as well.
The album opens ‘Follow Me Down’ which
starts off with the sound of sirens and rain mixed
with erotic moans and groans and then moments
later the band unleash the rock with Jamie Perkins
smacking the hell out of his drums, Ben Phillips
knocking out some heavy riffs, Mark Damon laying
down some solid basslines and Taylor Momsen vocally
taking control with a diverse set of vocals which
twist and turn with the constant change of direction
throughout the song.
Next up is the lead single and album title track
‘Going To Hell’ the song opens with
a solid guitar riff and is shortly followed up
with Taylor Momsen laying down some angry sounding
vocals which are full of attitude as she shouts
out “For the lines that I take, I’m
going to hell, for the love that I make, I’m
going to hell” as the song progresses Ben
Phillips treats us to a breath taking guitar solo
and during the final seconds of the some Jamie
Perkins once again shows off his amazing drum
skills.
The band’s latest single ‘Heaven Knows’
is up next and my god what a killer track it is,
the song if a full on rock n’ roll anthem
and will instantly remind you of Queen’s
‘We Will Rock You’ due to the constant
drum beats and chant-a-long chorus of “Woooah
heaven knows” and general hand clapping
and choir style vocals.
‘House On The Hill’ see’s the
band go down the slow paced route and it really
suits them as the song comes across beautifully
as Taylor Momsen relaxes and sings from her heart.
‘Dear Sister’ and ‘Burn’
also see the band maintain the mellowness yet
the ‘Dear Sister’ only runs for 56
seconds and ‘Burn’ see’s the
band reach for the acoustic guitars whilst Taylor
Momsen once again sings her heart out.
The tongue in cheek ‘Why’d You Bring
A Shotgun To The Party’ is a ballsy little
number with some fantastic instrumental work flowing
through the duration of the song, whilst Taylor
Momsen once again shows off a different side to
her vocals especially towards the end where she
lets rip and nearly forgets to come up for air.
The album comes to a close with the sleepy country
sounding ‘Waiting For A Friend’, which
features a softly played guitar the odd sound
from an harmonica and Taylor Momsen laying down
such gentle lyrics as the band close the album
in the exact opposite fashion that they opened
it.
With ‘Going To Hell’ The Pretty Reckless
have easily improved on their debut album in every
way possible, when the album goes down the rock
anthem route it is big sounding and full of attitude
with a punk edge and when things slow down things
become quite the opposite as the band perform
from their heart especially Taylor Momsen who
has such a wide vocal range and can change her
vocals so quickly in style with the music.
4.5/5
Review by Trigger
|
