BAI BANG – All Around The World

Shane | 25 July 2013 | Reply

Label: AOR Heaven
Released: July 2013
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7.5/10

Bai Bang have been making fans of melodic hard rock jump and sing for a good few years now, with their debut album Enemy Lines being released way back in 1988. A handful of members have come and gone since then, but singer Diddi Kastenholt remains at the helm, and their past couple of albums have been solid examples of the infectious party rock they are best known for.

All Around The World sees the band on another high after 2011’s Livin’ the Dream which tread water a little. This time round the melodies go up to eleven and good time rock is the name of the game.

There’s a host of similarities to the 80’s output of bands such as Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and Kastenholt stamps his personality over every song, making sure Bai Bang still sound unique and not merely a shadow of their primary influences.

All Around The World could just as easily be titled All About The Hooks, so catchy is every song – opener Everybody Everywhere, Gonna Make It, Summertime and the title track would all have been top ten hits in 1987, and whilst the power ballads How About Now? and Now You’re Gone don’t reach the same heights, they are still worthy of raising a lighter to and swaying from side to side.

All Around The World is another classy offering from the Swedes, and despite more line-up changes since its release, they remain one of the best practitioners of melodic and anthemic rock out there today.

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