CD Review: Mando Diao – “Give Me Fire”

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CD Review

This review was originally written by Jose Bernardo for www.theweeklyriff.com between 2008 and 2010.

These were Jose’s first impressions of the songs and were not written after multiple spins.

Artist: Mando Diao
Album: Give Me Fire (2009 Universal Records Sweden)
Tracks: 13

Artist website: http://www.mandodiao.com/

OVERVIEW

This is the fifth studio album of Swedish band Mando Diao. This album offers some interesting and polished “garage” rock. I had never heard of this band until we sat down to do this review. The music is energetic. It is rough and gritty but polished. There are some cool moments in this record. “Give Me Fire” is a good effort from Mando Diao.

HIGHLIGHTS: 

Dance with Somebody, Mean Street, Go Out Tonight, The Shining and the hidden track

PLAY BY PLAY

Track 1 – Blue Lining White Trenchcoat
That’s the way to start things off. Cool track. 

Track 2 – Dance with Somebody
This has a feel to it that harkens back to the 60’s and 70’s, yet manages to be modern. 

Track 3 – Gloria
Really effective use of pads here. Also a very catchy song. 

Track 4 – High Heels
Very retro. Catchy melody. But sadly, it didn’t really click with us as I found this track to be a bit boring. 

Track 5 – Mean Street
This made me smile. Don’t know why. I liked it. It has a happy energy to it. Effective use of a pedal tone in the bass. 

Track 6 – Maybe Just Sad
Meh.

Track 7 – A Decent Life
I really just could not connect with this track. 

Track 8 – Give Me Fire
So, here’s the title track. It’s not a bad track, but not a highlight either.

Track 9 – Crystal
Meh.

Track 10 – Come on Come On
Eh… I’m on the fence with this track…

Track 11 – Go Out Tonight
Very pretty. 

Track 12 – You Got Nothing on Me
The only thing I liked about this track is the solo.

Track 13 – The Shining
When I first saw that this track clocks in at 19 minutes and 22 seconds I wondered how these guys are going to pull off such a long song without boring me. I’m no stranger to long songs as an avid Dream Theater fan, so the prospect of listening to something long didn’t bother me.

The track starts off with this really awesome poppy song that is just catchy and has really strong melodic sensibilities. This could have easily been in a James Bond film. But the track ends at 3:20. So where’s the rest of the track? Silence follows for a very long time.

Aha, it’s not a 19 minute long opus! But there’s a hidden track. A hidden track starts at 16:48. There is something very mexican about this hidden track. It’s an acoustic piece. It must be the mariachi stylings and the lyrics in Spanish. Awesome!

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Posted in CD Reviews, The Weekly Riff (2008-2010) Reprinted.