The 69 Eyes - X (2012) (6,5/10)

As the title indicates, this is already the tenth release by the Finnish Glam and Gothic Rock band THE 69 EYES that has been around since 1989 and who has risen to worldwide fame with the release of the “Devils” record eight years ago. The band has originally played a mixture of Glam Metal and Hard Rock but changed for a more commercial Gothic Rock orientated style during the years. As time went by, the band became though a little bit more polished and moved away from the Gothic genre. The vocals sound a lot smoother and variable than before and the tracks feature a more positive Rock ‘n’ Roll spirit and have mostly moved away from darker topics.

Despite all these small changes, the band somewhat fails to impress on this record and sounds far too tame to impress. The tracks are catchy but they lack of energy and edges. A good example would be “If You Love Me the Morning After,” which is a polished Gothic Pop ballad that one seems to have heard a thousand times before.

The band only gets better in the second half of the record where the second single “Borderline” is one of the most surprising songs I’ve heard from this band for quite a while. This half ballad has a dark Country touch where the vocals fit perfectly and it builds up a mysterious atmosphere. The song sounds like a great bastard of JOHNNY CASH, ELVIS PRESLEY and NICK CAVE. Another solid songs comes right after this in form of “I’m Ready” which is an energizing Retro Rock anthem with a few contemporary sound effects and a couple of decently used but very charming female vocals. The band still has another original song on the release with the very good album closer “When a Love Comes to an End” that has a transcendently dreamy atmosphere one hasn’t heard from this band before. Even though the song itself is musically rather minimalistic, it has a slight Progressive vibe and comes as an unusual but positive surprise from this band.

These three songs are not very representative for the band but they prove that these guys are in fact more variable than they seem to be and that they still have a couple of fresh ideas. That’s why it’s rather sad that most of this album is quite exchangeable and only wants to play a save game by pleasing to the regular fan basis. THE 69 EYES have a lot of potential but they must definitely break free from their successful past and break with the usual expectations to be still relevant as artists in the future. I really hope that their next strike may include a couple of more original songs than this one. Regular fans of the band should nevertheless get this album and won’t be too disappointed. It’s neither the band’s best nor the band’s worst record after all.

(Online November 24, 2012)