Building on tradition

Approfondimenti

As the guitarist of Hanoi Rocks, Andy McCoy was responsible for penning the lion's share of the band's material during their classic period of 1981 through 1984. So it would only make sense that McCoy would launch a solo career of his own after the group announced their initial split in 1985, right? Well...yes and no. McCoy would opt to collaborate with others in a variety of projects, and would also find the time to issue sporadic solo releases, including his second solo effort, Building on Tradition, in 1995. With mainstream rock music still in a "grungy" state of mind around this time, it's admirable that McCoy would stick to his stylistic guns throughout Building on Tradition, and continue on the same Rolling Stones/New York Dolls path that he'd favored from the beginning. With McCoy handling vocal duties in addition to multi-instruments (as well as producing the album), the album manages to mix bluesy rock and melody throughout, as evidenced by such stand-out tracks as the album-opening "Strung Out," as well as "Love & Hate" and "Let It Rock." And expectedly, there are a few compositions that would have fit perfectly on a Hanoi Rocks release (namely "Born Again Electric"). Sleaze rock may have been at an all-time low in popularity circa 1995, but Andy McCoy wasn't going down without a fight, and he proudly waves his flag high throughout Building on Tradition.

© Greg Prato /TiVo