The Rockpit have been championing the music of Crazy Lixx for the 15 years we’ve been in existence, starting with a review of the second record 2010’s ‘New Religion’ and an interview with Danny Rexon (our first of 14 interviews with various members of the band over the years). 2024 sees the release of ‘Two Shots at Glory’ a semi-compilation that comes after 7 cracking studio albums and a great live record. It’s an interesting release in that tackles the reworking of past tracks, adding a couple of new originals and a cover. But it’s also a bit of an enigma…
The publicity for this compilation proclaims: “…”Two Shots at Glory” stands as a tribute to Crazy Lixx’s impressive 20+ year career, showcasing reimagined versions of their iconic choruses, memorable hooks, and electrifying guitar solos, alongside exciting new surprises.” What you get is 11 tracks – 3 new and a further 8 reimagined.
The press makes it sound like a ‘Best of’ release (mentioning as it does a tribute to a 20+ year career) but it is not quite as simple as that because when you delve into the re-recordings not only are they all from the same label – Frontiers, five of the re-imagined tracks come from the same album – 2012’s ‘Riot Avenue’ an album that got a re-release of its own back in 2018 on CD and vinyl.
Not only that, the other tracks on ‘Two Shots…’ that get a re-working come from just two more albums. ‘From ‘New Religion’ (2010) comes ‘Lights Out!’ which was a bonus track on the 2018 re-release; whilst ‘Ain’t No Rest in Rock and Roll’ hails from the self-titled 2014 release. It’s only ‘Sympathy’ originally a digital only single that preceded that same self-titled release that you could argue as a rarity, though it too found physical form back in 2018.
It leaves me with more questions that answers I guess. Why only include a couple of ‘bonus tracks’, why pick on ‘Riot Avenue’ for the majority of the re-working, why only cover songs from 4 years of a 22 year career, and why three new tracks including a cover of an old Kiss tune? All we’re missing surely is a couple of demos and a few live tracks to celebrate the 22nd anniversary?
I’m intrigued by the inclusion of so many tracks from ‘Riot Avenue’ Crazy Lixx’ third album, a record that took a heavier turn. I loved the record at the time, and whilst it was no ‘New Religion’ or ‘Loud Minority’ it rocked hard and had some great songs even if it did stray a little from the signature sound. ‘Heatseeker’ I always though deserved a re-do (it doesn’t get one), but ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ was fine as an opener, the title track was solid, ‘Young Blood’ very cool; and my favourite at the time was the closer ‘Only the Dead Know’ which does get a re-working here.
Whilst Crazy Lixx have played ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ often live (along with the title track. ‘Youngblood’ and occasionally ‘Downtown’) they’ve been the only tracks to really make the live set from ‘Riot Avenue’. They’ve never played ‘Fire it Up’; ‘Only the Dead know’; or ‘Church of Rock’ live and ‘In the Night’ only a couple of times. By 2022, the album’s 10th anniversary Crazy Lixx were playing nothing from ‘Riot Avenue’ live.
As the ‘Riot Avenue’ songs are so prominent on this release it makes you wonder if we are going to be hearing a lot more of them live, or is this just an exercise in muscling up some songs that didn’t quite hit the spot for the band sonically 12 year ago? If it’s just the latter then I have to wonder what the point is? I’d much rather a collection or rarities or a greatest hits (or both) than hear half an album re-worked. I mean why not re-record the whole thing if it needed it?
This a release that falls between more stools than we have stools… And all of this before I’ve even pressed play.
Danny called the album in a number of interviews a chance to re-do “Some songs that had been neglected due to different reasons” You’d think if that was the case that they would get an airing in the live set, but so far it’s only the often played ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ that is getting an outing with new tracks ‘Sword in the Stone’ and ‘Two Shots at Glory’.
Putting all that to one side let’s push play, looking at the new tracks first…
THE NEW TRACKS
We open with new track ‘Two Shots at Glory’ which ironically gets its first shot here. It’s a great song, nice and fast with a cool verse that builds to an even cooler chorus. It’s just what you love about Crazy Lixx, great vocals, stunning mix and huge chorus: guaranteed to go down well live.
‘Invincible’ is perhaps my favourite of the three new tracks, it’s grittier, has more bite in the guitars and those Def Leppard backing vocals are sublime. I’d love to hear this live and am kind of surprised that it’s not immediately made it into the setlist when ‘Two Shots’ and ‘Sword’ have.
That brings us to the Stanley/Kulick composition ‘Sword and Stone’. I must admit to never really being a massive fan of the song, it’s a decent song and everyone of course knows it’s pedigree and place in Kiss lore, but for me Bonfire nailed it in 1989. Crazy Lixx kind of duplicate their version. I know it featured on the ‘Shocker’ and was recorded at the same time as Bonfire’s magnificent third album ‘Point Blank’ but I’d take any track on that record over ‘Sword and Stone’ and almost all of the Crazy Lixx originals here ahead of it too.
Don’t get me wrong the modern production gives it a cleaner sound that many will no doubt enjoy and it’s certainly no dud. For me though, and there’s not many bands I can say this of, but to be honest I’d have preferred another new song.
This is a great album taken at face value but it also has the feel of a place-holder. Is three new songs and some re-recordings what the fans will want and pay for? Well I hope so because for me everything Danny and the guys do is golden, but like I said before I’d prefer a ‘Best of’ or a ‘Rarities’ collection or even a complete make-over for ‘Riot Avenue’ over this.
I get the video tie-ins, I get the ‘Young Guns II’ homage, I get the whole ‘retro’ vibe, all of which I love, but sonically do the re-recorded tunes make me look at the songs in a new light? Is their second shot brighter than the first? I’m no so sure. Much as I love Crazy Lixx I’m confused by this release. So I guess I better take a closer look at the re-recordings…
THE RE-RECORDINGS
Let’s take them in order…
‘Fire It Up’ the 4th track from ‘Riot Avenue’ I loved at the time of its original release for it’s sheer immediacy for me this is the reworking that works best here. I remember loving the song when I first heard it and here I still love it. Sure the guitars have more edge and the backing vocals are elevated, all in all you can’t argue that the songs sound better produced than the originals but it’s all in the mix there are no real structural changes. What it shows is that Danny has really come on as a serious producer over the last decade. but I’m not sure I love the song more than I already did despite the wonderful new mix.
I guess ‘Lights Out’ the bonus track from ‘New Religion’ is an interesting song to fall under the ‘Underappreciated’ banner as it originally appeared as the 2010 Japanese bonus track, presumably making it the very definition of a song not quite good enough to make the standard release? But that being said it also makes you wonder why other bonus tracks didn’t make the tracklisting – I mean I’m quite partial to ‘Bad in a Good Way’ and ‘No Guts, No Glory’ from the debut album; even more interestingly ‘Riot Avenue’s’ Japanese bonus track ‘Red Hot Red Blooded’ is also kinda cool and surely as the focus is on that record it would have been a prime candidate for a makeover and a reintroduction to the fans? I guess what I’m suggesting is that an album consisting just of the Japanese bonus tracks previously released and therefore essentially not necessarily already in the hands of fans outside of Japan would have been a nice move for fans wanting to complete collections?
I keep coming back to that ‘Riot Avenue’ focus and the re-working of the guitars of Andy Dawson and the bass of Loke Rivano on the re-recordings. Andy of course departed after that release as did Loke a little later. I appreciate that looking back at the catalogue ‘Riot Avenue’ is the heaviest of Crazy Lixx’ releases and the one where you felt they were straying a little from their trademark 80’s sound, and to me that, more than any proclamation of a chance to ‘re-do’ “Some songs that had been neglected due to different reasons” is the key here.
I see it more of a re-working of an album that was produced a little differently. If that’s the case then we might have been better served by re-recording the entire album if it was that much of an issue, rather than just the half we get here. But heck in life we all learn and evolve and progress don’t we? I, like many, enjoyed the release at the time even if it didn’t necessarily have the sheen and was also heavier than previous and subsequent releases. It’s interesting to note that ‘Riot Avenue’ was the first record Danny produced along with Andy Dawson and Edd Liam after the wonderfully 80’s sounds conjured by Chris Laney who took charge of the first two releases. It’s also interesting Laney returned to mix the self-titled release that followed and the live album ‘Sound of the Live Minority’ that came after that. He mixed everything up to ‘Forever Wild’. The new record was produced and mixed by Danny and mastered by Erik from Eclipse. I’d wager that for this kind of music those three names are as good as it gets.
‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ Riot Avenue’s opener I’m not sure has ever been underappreciated has it? I mean it’s in the live set, it’s a fan favourite, it got glowing reviews at the time and now it’s got a great new video. It sounds great here but then it always did.
‘Ain’t No Rest In Rock N’ Roll’ the sole reworking from the self-titled ‘Crazy Lixx’ album has another great video. You sort of feel it’s on here because of that great video rather than anything else. It was always one of my standouts from Crazy Lixx’s self-titled record and this version certainly has a sheen to it and more of an 80’s vibe but in truth it’s not far off the song we already loved.
‘In The Night’ (’23) another from ‘Riot Avenue’ is another interesting one in that it was actually the band’s first single release from the record. I remembering at the time wondering how it became the first single. It’s by no means a bad song (I think Crazy Lixx are incapable of that) but to me it’s not a single just a damn good album track and showcasing it here even with the great new production and renewed urgency it remains just that. The fact that the song has only been played a few times live back in 2012 seems to underline it’s standing as a decent but not essential part of teh catalogue.
‘Only The Dead Know’ (’23) was one of my favourite tracks from ‘Riot Avenue’ closing the album as it did and leaving the listener with a real epic song in the style of Whitesnake. I always wondered why this one didn’t make the setlist and it sounds even better here reworked and refreshed. This is definitely one that has stood the test of time and it’s still essential.
‘Sympathy’ (’23) was the new single from Crazy Lixx, released on March 24, 2014. Blled at the time as being “stand alone & not be featured on their next album” it was an interesting idea at the time but also mystifying that if the band was to put out a non album single why it was never available in physical formats. It’s a great song and one of my favourites here. It’s also interestingly the newest remake almost a decade old as we speak. I remember it getting a lot of love at the time so I’m not sure it was underappreciated just odd that fans could only download a copy. It was definitely more than good enough to make the album that followed and it’s one of my favourites here. As far as recordings go this is sounds pretty much the same as the original which I always thought was very well produced. The real difference here really is that the guitars have more edge in the mix and the backing vocals are far richer but it’s just down to production
‘Church Of Rock’ (’23) is yet another solid rocker from ‘Riot Avenue’ and it too sounds great here with it’s new production. It’s by this point that it all kind of makes sense in a strange way. There’s no dispute that teh songs sound more like what we’ve come to know and love on the last few releases: though if you’re a long time fan like us, you will still instantly recognize the songs. Maybe if I was a little less invested in the band, and a little more casual with my listening then it would make more sense. As at the end of the day this just fees like an opportunity to show how you can achieve a particular sound. It works wonderfully well, though as I’ve said I was more then happy with what we already had.
THE QUESTIONS
These are the questions I’m left with…
Do you need to hear revamped versions of 5 tracks from 2012’s ‘Riot Avenue’ that have no major structural changes (and if so why not hear the rest of the album re-worked?) Do you need to hear a couple of album bonus tracks re-recorded? (but still have plenty of bonus tracks out there?) Do you want to hear a couple of new songs and a new cover version? (If so why not an EP?) If the answer to any of these questions is yes then buy this album immediately as I did.
If you’re a new fan then I’d love to hear what you make of this release because I’m not sure if hearing 5 re-recorded tracks off ‘Riot Avenue’ would make me delve back into the catalogue as much as hearing a ‘Best of’ record would. I’m also pretty certain that only a few of the re-recorded versions on this release would make a ‘Best of’ release with the exception of “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ (though the original version was fine); ‘Ain’t No Rest in Rock N’ Roll’ (not the best track on that album though); and ‘Only the Dead Know’ the real sure fire classic here (but again the original was fine).
Crazy Lixx is well along the road to putting out their next album – maybe even as early as late 2024 and that will be off the charts based on what we can hear here! You see the whole thing with this record despite it’s provenance is that it sounds great, the tracklisting works beautifully, and despite this lengthy review it’s a solid 8.5 /10 from me. Crazy Lixx really are the kings of the genre. We knew that back in 2009 and they are even better with age.
TRACKLISTING:
Two Shots At Glory
Fire It Up (’23) originally from ‘Riot Avenue (2012)
Invincible
Lights Out! (’23) originally a ‘New Religion’ Bonus Track (2010)
Sword And Stone
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (’23) originally from ‘Riot Avenue (2012)
Ain’t No Rest In Rock N’ Roll (’23) originally from ‘Crazy Lixx’) (2014)
In The Night (’23) originally from ‘Riot Avenue’ (2012)
Only The Dead Know (’23) originally from ‘Riot Avenue’ (2012)
Sympathy (’23) originally a stand alone digital single released on March 24, 2014
Church Of Rock (’23) originally from ‘Riot Avenue’ (2012)
