For those of us of a certain age who grew up weened on a diet of hard rock, the name Michael Monroe will be very familiar one. ‘Outersteller’ is the thirteenth solo album of a career that dates back forty years and, as opener “Rockin‘ Horse” kicks off this latest installment in the rock icon‘s raucous catalogue, it becomes very obvious that the vocalist has no intention of slowing down any time soon.
A full-throttle glam rock affair packed with the kind of swagger and attitude that is synonymous with Monroe, ‘Outerstellar’ is exactly the sort of album we need given the current climate across the planet. Each song is glittery, trashy, and packed with enough swagger and pout to get you seriously considering digging out the snakesin pants you‘ve not managed to squeeze into for the last thirty years but you have kept just in case this kind of thing becomes fashionable again.
The thing is that, while albums like ‘Outerstellar’ might not be the most fashionable, even in rock circles, those who have kept all these albums and all these artists close to their hearts, will lap every moment of this album up. It’s got everything. Strutting into current single “Shinola”, Monroe has a punk rock sneer as he spits “you’re an angry little f**ker with an axe to grind…” and his band back it up with gang choruses, punk rock sleaze, and bags of attitude.
”When The Apocolypse Comes” takes the album down a different route as the snarling punk rock is replaced with a more blue-collar Bruce Springsteen-tinged, hard rock vibe. If you want spit-soaked punk bangers though ”Newtro Bombs” ticks that box as it skittles through two and a half minutes of full-throttle punk riffing and gang chants. Loud and bratty, the energy levels kick up a notch for ”Disconnected” as the anthems just keep coming. “Precious” has an 80s rock vibe with Monroe strutting and sneering over the top of a foot-stomping, hip-shaking, harmonica-drenched classic.
Obviously, it wouldn‘t be a hard rock album if it didn‘t have the obligatory ballad in there. In the case of ‘Outstellar’ that comes in the form of ”Glitter Dust” where Monroe’s smoky vocals penetrate the air as, for four minutes, he takes you back to the height of the hard rock heydays when big hair ballads ruled the airwaves and cheap lighters lit up arenas across the globe
The album wraps up with the foot-stomping ”Road To Ruin” before Monroe and his henchmen head off in search of a party with the blue-collar rock of “One More Sunrise” filling the airwaves and bringing the curtain down on this loud, energetic, unapologetically brash collection of rock ‘n’ roll anthems.
Thirteen solo albums in and, while artists like Michael Monroe might not be a household name outside rock circles, albums like this are absolutely vital to the lifeblood of rock music. In a world where every corner sees something else turning to shit, ‘Outerstellar’ takes you back to a time where the best nights of your life were played out to soundtracks like this one. Fun, rowdy, a bit wild, ‘Outerstellar’ is the kind of honest, heartfelt, wear-it-on-your-sleeve album that we all need in our lives right now.
Pick up your copy of ‘Outerstellar’ from here.
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