J-Metal Reviews: 44MAGNUM "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER"

By Badman

What’s up you rattleheads? Are you ready for a dose of some J-Metal madness? It doesn’t matter because we are going in at full force, pedal to the metal! (Pun Intended!) This week we have another heavy hitting band. In many Japanese Metal circles, they are held in high regard alongside the likes of other pioneering J-Metal bands: LOUDNESS, ANTHEM,and EZO. Hailing from the infamous Kansai (Osaka) Metal scene is the one-and-only 44MAGNUM! Don’t turn your ears away from these boys because there are some kickass tracks to be heard!

Today’s review is on 44MAGNUM’s sophomore full-length record, "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER". It totals at a whopping forty-two minutes, forty-six with the bonus track. Don’t let the runtime deter you though, it's guaranteed jam packed with BANGERS! Let’s start off with those bangers first. The opening track "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER" is an eardrum gripping song high in energy and a riff that absolutely kills! The fourth track "NIGHTMARE" is exactly that! It’s darker and grittier than the rest of the songs on the album; a definite standout! Other tracks such as "TOO LATE TO HIDE" and "VICTORY OATH" are in the same vein of "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER". "LOCK OUT", "LOVING YOU", and "I JUST CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE" give a great sprinkle of Glam/Hair Metal vibes that adds a nice touch of flavor to the record. What I found interesting is how the band closed out the record. I thought they would end it on a one last HURRAH, fast tempo metal song but it is absolutely the opposite. "YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME" is a surprisingly hard/heavy ballad; an absolutely AWESOME one at that.

These were the bangers, but there are two tracks I didn’t find myself too fond of despite the rest of the record being so darn good! "IT'S TOO BAD" and "FRIDAY NIGHT" are the two songs that lack the most in sound and their overall music composition was lackluster. "IT'S TOO BAD" has a great instrumental but the vocals were delivered in a strange Freddy Mercury type cadence that turned the song upside down for me. "FRIDAY NIGHT" felt like a filler slow tempo song. There are great components in this song but it was poorly executed. The chorus is lackluster shouting “Friday, Friday Night” and during the song’s bridge there are out of place gang-vocal “Ah”s. 

Believe it or not, this is my first full listen (I actually listened to this three times front to back) of this record. I can definitely say that 44MAGNUM’s "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER" is worth a listen. Although there were two songs that I give a hard pass to, the rest of the album totally kills! What I love the most is diversity in sounds throughout the record ranging from Heavy Metal, classic Rock 'N Roll, Glam Metal, and hard/heavy ballads. It's a perfect concoction to keep you listening... Hell, I will be listening to it again!

Standout Songs:
STREET ROCK'N ROLLER
LOCK OUT
LOVING YOU
NIGHTMARE
TOO LATE TO HIDE
I JUST CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE
VICTORY OATH
YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME
I GIVE YOU MY LOVE (Bonus Track)

The MV for "STREET ROCK'N ROLLER" can be seen below!