I Own That CD! - Hoodoo Gurus

The fourth album from the Aussie band is fantastic from the start to finish. My blog post could end there, but let’s dive into the songs that make Magnum Cum Louder an amazing release and today’s feature on I Own That CD!

The band has always focused their sounds from 1960s power pop and garage punk, to hard rock and funky psychedelic. Their music constantly brings something different and refreshing. The album was self produced because, as the band put it, “We produced the record ourselves for our own morale, if nothing else.” The results were one of the best rock albums of the 1980s.

The CD kicks off with one of their most well-known songs, “Come Anytime”. Best described, by the band, as a romantic song about an unromantic subject, but you can reverse the adjectives and the statement would be equally correct. This is an irresistible rock/pop song and maybe their most well known.

The acoustic strum that kicks off “Another World” sets it up for a more folk-rock song that has hooks throughout. “Axegrinder” brings the cowbell to a funky rock number and “Shadow Me” is a beautiful, haunting track that breaks up the heavier rock songs perfectly.

Their previous album, Blow Your Cool!, was a bit more slick while Magnum Cum Louder is grittier with almost a live feel. Take “All The Way” - a truly perfect pop song that flies off the CD.

Is it me, or is there just a big ol’ sexual overtone of the whole release. “Baby Can Dance” is as romantic as the Gurus will get but then you’ve got the 1980’s version of “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” with the song “Where’s That Hit?” that drops in innuendos like Dre drops beats (and yes, you could call it a band vs. music industry song as well).

My favorite track by far is the closer, “Death in the Afternoon”. Is it a song about how cable news/24-7 news can tell you about death and destruction at any time? Maybe - but all I know is that it’s slick, it’s heavy, (it’s got cowbell) and it rocks big time.

This is one of the finest rock albums of the late 1980s (if not all of the 1980s) and should be a blueprint for bands producing their own rock albums. They found a sound, improved on it and kicked ass.

One of the finest bands from Australia hit their peak with this release and I have it on CD if you’d like to borrow it.