''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...
band
Reckless Love
Reckless Love is a Finnish rock band formed in Kuopio in 2001. They released their debut album in 2010, which reached number 13 in the Finnish charts. In 2011, they released their second album ''Animal Attraction'', which was in the top 10 of t ...
, released on 4 March 2016 through
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
History
Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...
.
Track listing
All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted.
Reception
Writing for ''
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
'', Johnny Sharp pointed out the pop elements of several songs as "flagrant attempts to make radio-friendly sing-alongs" and ultimately said "we realise all this, as someone once sang, ain't nothin' but a good time. That's what they'll tell the taste police anyway."
On Dangerdog, Craig Hartranft said the boys "write some quality rock n roll tunes. Damn catchy rock n roll tunes", praised their individual performances and said "it's probably fair to say that there's not a single bad song on this album".
Nick Balazs from ''
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...
'' also noted the pop and even rap incursions of the band, but felt they "retain the fun, positive-natured attitude of Reckless Love". He concluded his review by saying: "Some of these newer sounds on InVader are questionable, but I absolutely commend a band for not resting on their laurels and trying something new."
An unsigned review by
Ultimate Guitar
Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...
's team states that the album "shows the members of this vicious group leaning closer and closer towards a more mainstream sound
..by blending aggressive rock guitar with melodic refrains and a plush production." They said the final impression with ''InVader'' is "how Reckless Love were able to once again achieve that vintage rock sound" and concluded by saying that "the album retains enough of their signature glam metal attitude to remain standout
..there are enough memorable moments throughout "InVader" to catch the interest of familiar listeners and constitute picking a copy up for their own collection."
In a less positive review, Sea of Tranquility's Steven Reid said "the Reckless lads made no secret out of their desire to broaden their sound, however I can't say I expected that to result in an album so throwaway, so lightweight, so utterly lacking in the rock that made this band's name, that it's barely recognisable." He went on to say that ''InVader'' "possesses three or four songs that stand up to repeat listens. The rest? Well, it isn't even particularly good pop music and in the throwaway stakes it's as here today and gone tomorrow as space hoppers and deely boppers."
Chart performance
Personnel
Reckless Love
*
Olli Herman
Olli Herman Kosunen (born 19 May 1983), also known as H. Olliver Twisted, is a Finnish singer who has played in the Swedish glam metal band Crashdïet. Twisted is currently a member of the Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love.
Career
Before ...
– lead vocals
*Pepe Reckless – lead guitar
*Hessu Maxx – drums
*Jalle Verne – bass guitar
*
Produced by
Ikka Wirtanen
Inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit alpha (IKK-α) also known as IKK1 or conserved helix-loop-helix ubiquitous kinase (CHUK) is a protein kinase that in humans is encoded by the ''CHUK'' gene. IKK-α is part of the IκB kinase co ...
References
{{Authority control
2016 albums
Reckless Love albums
Spinefarm Records albums