Reviews

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

With an opening rhythm that reminisces heavily of Status Quo’s ‘Down Down’ it’s hardly difficult to fall into the trap of what Swedish Guitarist/Singer, Bodinrocker is about to bring forth to the table.

On letting the rest of his lead-off track ‘Vacation’ play on, the similarities are still in situ alongside a more summery, slightly indie flavoured road.A searing blues vibe arrives and seems here to stay as songs like ‘Brown Bear’, ‘Got No Time’, ‘Roller Coaster Ride’, ‘New Sweden’, ‘That Old Twelve-Bar’ all breeze by with hardly a moment your foot won’t tap to. ‘Can’t Live Without It’ appears to be built against a very ‘Spirit In The Sky’ structure but still sizzles out on that ol’ front doorstep.

Anders Bodin, as he is known in real life, fires out some strikingly authentic soloing at us, paired along with a voice that would have been just at home in an album of this ilk about 50 years earlier. Huge hooks and no histrionics have us defied to believe that this chap is actually from Sweden, as opposed to some southerly US territory.

Evidence once again what our friends on the continent are capable of.

8.5/10

By Dave Attrill

RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Eric Clapton, Free, Cream & The Beatles

https://www.metallivillezine.com/bodinrocker?fbclid=IwAR0AK8LaGlW6CfXAcagBtNj2C3anv4Mv5fI-LN_OEfx_P1PG48PORaxjRSw

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

Anders Bodin hymlar inte med influenserna. Skivans startriff är Rainbow och “All night long” upp i dagen och så när låten “Brown Bear” kommer igång osar det rejält av 70-talets Status Quo. Men någon fuskare är inte göteborgske Bodinrocker. Med en text om hur en släkting en gång dödade en björn med sina bara händer skapar Bodin orginalitet. Sedan kommer låtar om bland annat vardag och helg (Got not time, Lazy day), samt ett rent utvandrardrama (New Sweden), medan “Roller Coaster Ride” är vad det låter som. På sin Facebooksida namnger Bodin så skilda akter som Neil Young, Whitesnake och Belle and Sebastian bland sina influenser och jodå, nog kan man höra dem alla på var sitt håll. Att bandet delar rytmsektion med Sven-Ingvars gör sedan sitt till för att skapa ett svåremotståndligt sväng. En sak till: Bodin verkar hålla med mig om hur jäkligt konstigt det är att inte fler spelar boogie i Status Quo-skolan. Varför spelar inte fler sådant?

Daniel Reichberg

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

A Glam Piledriver of a Modern Rock Album.

A lot; and possibly too much of the music we listen to at RMHQ is ‘worthy’, ‘deep’, ‘thoughtful’, ‘interesting’, ‘insightful’ even; with not nearly enough being deemed ‘fun’……not ‘Funny’ fun; but music you can listen to that makes you nod your head and tap your feet and even dance to, without worrying whether you are cool enough to be in the same room as the disc.
EYE TO EYE is the second album we have heard by Swede Anders Bodin and his band; and it certainly ticks all the boxes we have for that ‘fun’ category we so crave every so often.
From the crashing Olde School Status Quoian chords that open the album with the heads down, no nonsense boogie of Vacation we both knew we were in for a glorious Rock and Roll Roller Coaster Ride; and Bodin even gives us a song of that title later on and it too fits the bill perfectly well; being exactly what it says on the tin.
There are even a couple of songs here that lurch towards the heavier end of the 70’s Glam scene with Lazy Day and album closer Life Ain’t Fair sounding like they could have been T Rex or Sweet album tracks, if you will; and that is said with a fluttering heart by someone who lived through and embraced that scene as a giddy teenager.
While Status Quo may have faded rather ungracefully into old age becoming a tired shadow of their former selves; Bodinrocker have managed to embrace the melodic powerhouse that they achieved circa Piledriver and Rockin’ All Over The World; especially on That Old Twelve-Bar Blues and Got No Time, which are both perfect for playing real damn loud in the car on the motorway.
As with all of the bands Bodinrocker have drawn their influences from; there is an obligatory and in this case rather good acoustic song included; with Lazy Day being a recent contender for ‘Favourite Song’ status.
As if to demonstrate he isn’t a ‘covers act’ (which he most certainly isn’t btw) Bodin casually slips in a history lesson under the guise of a neat soft-rocker; with New Sweden about a colony of Swedes who settled in North America a couple of centuries ago; and whom our man from Jamtland sounds incredibly proud.
The actual winner of the RMHQ ‘Favourite Song’ title goes to Brown Bear; another almost perfect ‘heads down and boogie’ rocker; but the twist here is the song draws on Anders’ family mythology and tells the tale of his Great, Great Grandfather stumbling across a giant Brown Bear in the local woods and after coming EYE TO EYE with it, fighting the beast and eventually killing it with his bare hands……well, I believe it even if you don’t; plus…..you can dance to it too; if you know how to.
‘Timing’ is everything in music; and EYE TO EYE came along just at the perfect time for me to appreciate Bodin’s distinctive singing style alongside his top quality songwriting which somehow manages to make music fun again.
Check them out.

https://rockingmagpie.wordpress.com/2018/09/20/bodinrocker-eye-to-eye/

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

Although with a rather geeky name, BODINROCKER is something for melodic rockers to check up. The name is of course shaped from ANDERS BODIN, the man behind this monicker.

Sometimes this is like a merrier STATUS QUO, since there is a blues rocking base in a number of songs. “Vacation”, “Got no time” and “Roller coaster ride” are fine examples. Occasional tunes have some ELO in them, but I dare say a vibe of THE SPARKS as well, at least slightly. I also like the soft melodic rocker “Lazy day” which is like a more commercial ERIC CLAPTON tune.

Although not being what I normally enrichen my music collection with, this is good quality music that many people can like.

Ola Gränshagen 

http://www.melodic.net/#!/album/132998

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

I’ve just had the great pleasure of listening to the new album, ‘Eye to Eye’, by Swedish boogie meister, BodinRocker. ‘Eye to Eye’ is formally released tomorrow, September 14.

BodinRocker is a long time Quo fan, and just as with his previous albums, that Quo influence is very much to the fore. But this is no lightweight Quo pastiche. Plenty of boogie rock for sure, but lots of light and shade, thoughtful and intelligent lyrics and a great production as well, a really high quality sound.

Yes, there’s plenty of straight-ahead and instantly accessible melodic boogie, and done really well. Vacation, Roller Coaster Ride, Got No Time and my particular favourite, That Old Twelve Bar, are all top class rockers. And some light and shade? How about the bluesy, atmospheric Lazy Day? There are some real epics as well, like Brown Bear and New Sweden.

Another great album from BodinRocker, well worth seeking out.

Peter McCray

Bodinrocker – Eye To Eye

Swedish rocker Anders Bodin, alias Bodinrocker is back with his fourth album “Eye To Eye”, containing eight brand new songs and two from his EP “Roller Coaster Ride”, “Vacation” and “Roller Coaster Ride”.
Both the tracks are absolutely catchy and easy listening, two songs that put wings to the imagination and the desire for sun, summer and escape from the greyness of winter.
Pieces like “Brown Bear” has an Ac/Dc intro with a good guitar and also the guitar continues to hook, the song take a turn into a melodic way, not bad, with its southern sound.
More slowly is the following “My Way” with bluesing intro at its beginning and while continuing with a rhythm in half the blues and the country, perhaps it is the song that has less appeal.
Completely at the opposite is “Got No Time”, rock and roll a go-go with a wink to the 70’s glam rock sound, pretty good piece.
Another quiet song is “Lazy Day” with a good guitar sound, “New Sweden” resumes that southern rock
that i really like, covering it with a new dress, catchy and easy to memorize, I like it!
“That Old Twelve-Bar” continue with the same sound with a hooking refrain and good melodies, another good piece in “Eye To Eye”.
“Can’t Live Without It” has such a good rhythm, a highlight in this album. Same mood and same rhythm for “Life Ain’t Fair” that closes the album but  does not reach the structure of the previous piece, not lowering the average and the quality of the whole album.
“Eye To Eye” is a good album, which is aimed at an audience that loves melodic sounds with a southern blues flavor with hints of classic rock.
Listen it and give a chance to this album, it will not mark the history of music but you will have bought a well done record and will make you spend some of your time in a carefree way.

Valeria Campagnale

https://www.rockersandotheranimalsmagazine.org/reviews/bodinrocker/?fbclid=IwAR3EIDh2aQ-Zo9A25A01RQrRe3jgFgyNBnJxmsXAk-EjbL6nlyzV-1VJNdQ