The history of successful musical albums accompanying fictional characters from literature, comics, movies, etc., is pretty grim. Two notable exceptions being the soundtrack CD to "Queen Of The Damned" which wisely replaced the 80's synth-goth music described in the book with cutting edge dark wave & goth metal for the 2002 soundtrack that sold a zillion copies...and the highest charting Billboard debut record EVER (#21) for a death metal band with Cartoon Network's virtual extreme metal act, Dethklok." The Deth Album" has single-handedly exposed kids to more horror metal than most legitimate bands in the genre combined (they're fucking cartoon characters for fuck's sake...unbelievable)

Those are the kind of horror soundtracks you release these days if you wanna sell enough CD's to ensure you'll put your kids thru college.

However, Author Greg Lamberson has chosen a very interesting alternate route as the music of his literary character Johnny Gruesome....: retro.

What composers Giasone and Marcy Italiano have essentially done here is to re-create the vibe from mid-80's era Alice Cooper albums like "Constrictor" with a reverence that shows a great deal of conviction and attention to detail. That is not to say that there are not bits of personal identity showing thru here and there, but the point of this CD is to entertain. The music does that while stringing together a loose adaptation of Greg Lamberson's book "Johnny Gruesome"; telling the tale of a doomed rocker-turned-revenant, who comes back from the grave to exact his revenge on those who up and done him wrong. The bulk of the songs are built around chugging riffs, mid tempo rock-n-roll rhythms, with the occasional double bass drum fill and tempo variation thrown in for good measure. The guitars are solid, and in keeping with the style of the 80's; they are tuned to standard concert pitch. The result is a very authentic recreation of production from that era.

I suppose I should warn you youngins (under 21's) out there that this CD has very little to do with the contemporary metal, goth, or horror-core of today. Despite the cover art and zombie themed lyrics, this is not gonna have much in common with the horror music you are used to. This is an homage to an older style of spooky hard rock, and is rooted in the kind of music that gave birth to today's heavy stuff. Don't look for mega-heavy down-tuned guitars, or super power vocals here; nor will you find speedy tempos, or black metal keyboard overtures. None of those elements were common to old school hard rock, and would be very out of place here.

What you will get is some ghoulishly fun songs, served with catchy choruses guaranteed to have you singing along after the first listen. Picture The Ramones humping Twisted Sister in a tank of mustard gas....um, wait. Don't picture that at all. Let's just stick with the Alice Cooper homage

The lyrics are funny as hell, and served with a dose of conviction that perfectly serves the vibe of the album's story. "Over the Hill" made me giggle incessantly; "How could you, Ms. Dick?" indeed.

"Monster" is damn catchy, featuring drums and guitars doubled up in a gallop; before moving into a single string riff reminiscent of an undead George Thorogood solo from Hell. Spooky-Spicy!

"Aunt Alicia" (where is Bub when you need him anyway?) steps outside the storyline for a bit, and is one of the more humorous tracks on the CD. I dig it, but (and I will openly admit that this is pure musician nit-picking) there is a noise gate or muting that engages in-between the vocal lines, and (especially on headphones) I find it kind of distracting. Technical issues aside, this track is upbeat and fun.

The title track "Gruesome" is the most overtly Cooper-esque. And, I'd go as far as to say it's a flawless homage to the King of Horror Rock. A beautifully corny Judas-Priest-ian riff at the key change is a trip down hard rock lane that I absolutely love. I defy you not to come away humming this badass tune.

In my opinion, some of the morbid rock-a-boogie tunes come across as way more convincing that the actual attempt at blues in the aptly titled "Graveyard Blues." This whole track feels kinda forced, and as such it comes across a bit out of place. I'm afraid that the slow shuffle beat attempted here is just not this particular drummer's forte, and the backbeat suffers for it.

I find the next track, "Mary Whispers", quite enchanting. The centerpiece is a very simple lullaby-type melody that finds the lead vocal occasionally dissonant and out of tune. The result is quite haunting, and the track ends perfectly before the effect is worn out. This is easily my favorite cut, and I've no doubt it will make it onto more than one mix-CD in my future.

Sadly, the follow-up tune "Sorry Mary" seems to be lyrically important to the conclusion of the tale, but the song itself is easily my least favorite on this CD. The attempt play in a more modern style is pretty poorly executed (picture your dad's garage band attempting to convincingly replicate Green Day) It's a mess of colliding styles; goofy drum rolls and over-strained double kick drums have no place next to riffs that are this placidly "pop punk" (aka: Rancid or Blink-182). I'd have nixed this from the album, or found another means of telling this part of the story.

But, all is far from lost my friends. Any wrongs that may have occurred thru our listening experience are about to be washed clean & forgiven as we proceed to bow our heads to the final track. The stunningly awesome cheese-fest of a guilty pleasure anthem that is "Death Mobile" ... simply the best time you will have listening to a CD this year.

The riff thumps along at a pace not unlike Twisted Sister's "Destroyer," and it elicited a response in me that was not too far removed from myself at age 14 listening to that particular song. Fist pumping, good time sing-along fodder this be. And it closed this disc with a bang. Simply put, this CD is a really, really good time. And it sounds like those involved in making it had a good time doing it, which definitely translates to the music.

3.5 out of 5

MARS

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