It seems unbelievable but it’s been 11 years since these mash-up superheroes released their first album. I remember “Don’t Stop The Sandman” video playing in the rock clubs in Athens and everybody wondering “who are those guys?” and then going “wow, this is so cool!” Their impossible-to-find-now debut album spun million times in my stereo for the last decade…
On the band’s second attempt, obviously the element of surprise is gone, because we know what to expect, but that doesn’t mean that what we are expecting is… actually happening! Rock Sugar are expanding their songs-to-mash beyond rock and metal, to pop territory. Also, they are joining more songs together than just two or three. Most of the times the results are impressive. Not all of the times. They play more Motley Crue, Queen and Guns’n’Roses this time and they find a way to use this country’s all time favourite “The Final Countdown” from the mighty Europe. They open up more towards this side of the Atlantic by using scorpions’ biggest hit.
If I haven’t seen these guys playing their songs live on YouTube (wish I’ve seen them live in person) I’d say that it’s nothing special and just a studio thing anyone could do, but that’s not the case. These guys are top notch players and the voice of the multi-talented Jess Harnell is a real Swiss army knife. Introducing non-rock and non-metal songs is a game changer, since it’s almost impossible to realize what songs are actually heard from the first spin. Still, I will never forgive them for mashing up Whitesnake with… Nirvana!
Hope that the album will get a physical release at some point and if that happens it would also be great is they’d reissue the first one as well!
