Michael Monroe

[westcoast_junkie]

Thought the great Michael Monroe deserved a thread here!

His line-up now is rock solid, with Dregen (Backyard Babies) and Stev Conte (NY Dolls) on guitars, the Hanoi-original Sami Yaffa on bass and, just let the name talk, Karl Rockfist (played with Dizzy Reed amongst others) on drums. They are tight!!!

They are on fire theese days, touring Sensory Overdrive, wich is an absolutely fantastic rock n' roll album. They release it in US theese days. The best album under the name Michael Monroe ever, after my opinion. But the rest of his discography is absolutely worth checkin' out if u dig some good, real and kickin' rock music. That includes bands like Jerusalem Slim and Demolition 23. The Demolition 23 songs are always in the MM live set!!

And best of all. This band absolutely kick ass live!!! I haven't seen them for real yet, but the footage I've seen speak, and I've seen Michael Monroe with Hanoi several times, and I can asure everyone that this man got everything in his blood!!!

Here's a few more things about MM for those not familiar with him:

This is the man who duet with Axl on Ain't It Fun, and play harmonica on Bad Obsession (I think). He also got a picture inside the UYI-cover. He and Hanoi Rocks was a big influence on Guns n' Roses and a lot of other bands in LA back in the day! He also worked with Slash later on, and joined both Slash and Duff's Loaded on stage at a couple of occasions the last couple of years.

Sami Yaffa play with The Compulsion, along with Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer

Dregen get a thank you in the Chinese Democracy credits. I don't know why. But he sure is a big Gn'R fan. Dregen replaced Ginger (from Wildhearts) in the MM-line up.

Check out the music on spotify or whatever, and catch em live if  u can.

[LongGoneDay]

Thanks for posting. I might check out the Boston show.

[Bansidhe]

I saw MM supporting Mot?rhead in Glasgow last year. I only know a few Hanoi songs but I have to say that the guy is a cracking frontman (rocking out his saxophone and climbing up the lighting rig to the balcony ) and there are some great tunes from Sensory Overdrive. I'm a huge Ginger/Wildhearts fan. He has several writing credits on the album. I'd advise anyone who likes classic rock n roll to go and see them band.

[LongGoneDay]

I had seen Conte and Yaffa a couple times playing with the Dolls, and they were great live. I didn't realize they had quit.
Picked up Sensory Overdrive, sounds pretty good. Cool that they got the great Lemmy to make an appearance.

[westcoast_junkie]

I had seen Conte and Yaffa a couple times playing with the Dolls, and they were great live. I didn't realize they had quit.
Picked up Sensory Overdrive, sounds pretty good. Cool that they got the great Lemmy to make an appearance.

Yeah, Lemmy's a rough background vocalist!!! That song was originally called "Motorheaded for a Fall". A not so hard guest appearance is Lucinda Williams.....

Don't know, but does Conte and Yaffa quitting NY Dolls to play with Michael Monroe say something (positive) about Michael Monroe??

[westcoast_junkie]

You LUCKY Americanos!!!! Both Michael Monroe And Guns n' Roses on tour!!!

Load your batteries till next week Philadelphia!

[mrlee]

Hes playing at Wolverhampton with CRASHDIET on support, im on the guestlist 

[westcoast_junkie]

U lucky bastard!!! 

[westcoast_junkie]

Not much response on this thread. Anyway, here's a review from one of the concerts from the recent US tour: http://oregonmusicnews.com/2011/10/22/with-a-trick-of-the-wrist-michael-monroe-unleashes-a-barnburner-at-dantes/

Not many who can pull of a rock n' roll show like Michael Monroe anymore 

[westcoast_junkie]

Congrats to Michael Monroe for The Best Album of The Year award at the Classic Rock Awards. It got handed over by Duff McKagan who praised the band, saying that Monroe deserves all the world?s attention.

New musicvideo "Trick Of The Wrist" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osAmxyyxfvc

[westcoast_junkie]

Ladies and gentlemen, Duff (who joined for a couple of songs the other night) is right when he's saying: "Michael Monroe were fucking GREAT tonite! Rock and roll in the best of ways."

[westcoast_junkie]

YLE's (Finnish broadcast) recording of Michael Monroe celebrating 50 years at the Ruisrock festival this summer is available at their homepage. It was originally only available in Finland, but was opened for the rest of the world due to Monroe's worldwide fan-base. Some special guests, birthday-greetings from some admirers/friends (Slash, Slayer and Alice Cooper amongst others) and a kick-ass rock n' roll concert! Definitely worth to spend one hour and twenty-seven minutes of your life to watch this show!

http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1619427

PS, only available 12 more days.

[westcoast_junkie]

New awesome single and video Ballad of the lower east side: http://youtu.be/XhAbtZXu2RU

Check it out! 

[westcoast_junkie]

The new album "Horns and Halos" is out now. Buy it or check it out on Spotify, and you will get pleased if you like rock n' roll. Gotten great reviews too 👻
 I believe there's plans for a world tour

[westcoast_junkie]

So, since I attended Michael Monroe's kick ass show Saturday, I thought I had to update on the current situation.

They released an album last fall, "Blackout States". Very good album! I highly recommended it. Check out the music videos they made for the songs "Going down with the ship" and "Old King's Road":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23KAL0fft7w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siImwtHDmXU

The line-up now may be a little less famous than the "Sensory Overdrive"-line-up, but damn, this band was thight! Sami Yaffa is a legend, and Steve Conte and Rich Jones are very solid guitar players. And of course, Michael Monroe is the only frontman nowadays that comes anywhere near Axl. I believe Axl himself said once, that if Hanoi Rocks would've had obtained the success they deserved, people wouldn't probably ever have heard of Guns n' Roses.

Now, I just hope for Michael Monroe to get the warm-up gig when Gn'R hits Europe 

[westcoast_junkie]

New album, One Man Gang, out now. If you like "The Monroes", you'll probably like this: https://open.spotify.com/album/448Gh3qVgFiHNvQW76ddOM?si=iMbaLhr-Qlaa1cebF5oAXg

Review here: https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/michael-monroes-one-man-gang-in-any-sane-world-this-would-be-a-hit-record

They tour Europe right now. Attended Oslo last night. Great as always. Now, still hope this band get the cred they deserve.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

New album, One Man Gang, out now. If you like "The Monroes", you'll probably like this: https://open.spotify.com/album/448Gh3qVgFiHNvQW76ddOM?si=iMbaLhr-Qlaa1cebF5oAXg

Review here: https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/michael-monroes-one-man-gang-in-any-sane-world-this-would-be-a-hit-record

They tour Europe right now. Attended Oslo last night. Great as always. Now, still hope this band get the cred they deserve.

I am not familiar at all with his stuff. To me, the mix seems way off.

Guitars are very up front and the vocals ( and everything else) sound buried in the background.
 

[westcoast_junkie]

Well, matter of taste I guess. Guitars dominated live too. Glad you checked it out anyway 

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Well, matter of taste I guess. Guitars dominated live too. Glad you checked it out anyway 

Is there a definitive album or a good starting point you'd recommend checking out for someone who knows next to nothing about them? 

[westcoast_junkie]

Well, maybe Sensory Overdrive is the place to start. But Michael Monroe doesn't change the recipe that much. His soloalbums in this millennium do have much of the same sound. My favourite from the 90s (and maybe my all time favourite from him outside Hanoi Rocks) is Demolition 23, which is also the bands name, but can be considered as a solo project.

If you're not familiar with Hanoi Rocks, my favourite album is Back To Mystery City. Their first four album was relaunched in the states by Uzi Suicide. Two Steps From The Move was the album supposed to make Hanoi big in the US, but their drummer died in an accident (with Vince Neil) and the band broke up shortly after.