By Tom Parsons
Photo Courtesy of songonlyrics.com
With a name like Foxy Shazam, there is a certain expectation the group will be utterly awesome. Fortunately for us, they keep that promise. Foxy Shazam delivers the goods, and they do it with all the class and style of the 1980s. Not since The Darkness released, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” in 2003 have I heard a sound that is just so righteous.
This album does not hesitate. The first track is “Welcome to the Church of Rock and Roll” and it definitely fits that title by amazingly sounding like hard rock and gospel at the same time. With strong power chords, heavy drums, choir-like background vocals and a front man that could easily be confused for Freddie Mercury, this song serves as a perfect introduction for what is to come.
The single that the band members released off the album is absolutely ridiculous. It goes by the title, “I Like It,” and in their classic 80’s style, it describes an infatuation with the “biggest black ass I’ve ever seen.” One cannot help but be reminded to the classic Queen song, “Fat Bottomed Girls.” When this song came on, I could not stop smiling. There is something strangely comforting to the idea that people are still making music about thing of such nature. It is reminiscent of a simpler time when people had simple pleasures and were not afraid to say so.
My favorite track coming off this album is “Holy Touch” which features a sound very similar to an early 80’s Journey. With a powerful bass line, driving drum beat and the occasional trumpet all overlain with the super-enthusiastic sound of vocalist Eric Sean Nally, this song is a great tribute to the music that defined the generation before us.
The album continues in this upbeat homage to hair bands for the next few tracks until it hits “Forever Together,” a medium paced ballad about the heartbreak that goes with being both a parent and a touring musician. This song seemed out of place initially with there being no transition from the hard rock songs before it, however the album corrects itself by continuing in this tone for the next few songs. Overall, though it seems a little forced, the song does tend to work.
The final track of this album was “Freedom,” this song has an epic, orchestral type feel. One lyric that resonates is, “There’s only one thing you take with you when you die—freedom.” This was the closing prayer to the Church’s service.
My suggestion is to check this band out. “Foxy Shazam” is something special and “The Church of Rock and Roll” has resurrected glam rock from long since dead. So, in a generation where music is dominated by auto-tune, this might be exactly what America needs.