The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious

A welcome injection of rawness for modern mainstream punk rockers

3 1/2

Under a half hour The Hives tore through their snarling London-via-Sweden punk revival with glam-rcok inklings (found especially in the singers delivery for better or worse). Many songs do not have the bombastic vision that their singles usually possessed, but from the opening notes it remained undeniable that the unit, however derivative at times, attacked every note and word in full force, somehow almost justifying the short length of the lp. January 12, 2008

Putting the "rage" back in Garage Rock

Plain and simple, this album is loud, heavy-hitting garage rock at its finest. From the very outset, The Hives punch you in the face with a relentless stream of power-chords, pounding drums, and "screw you!" vocals. The band let's you catch your breath for a moment on their rendition of "Find Yourself Another Girl" but then quickly resumes the onslaught before eventually finishing up with the catchy "Supply & Demand". If you heard "Main Offender" and/or "Hate To Say I Told You So" and thought "Hey, this ain't too bad", then do yourself a favor and pick up Veni Vidi Vicious today. Don't be fooled by reviewers who claim The Hives are nothing but a ripoff of The Who, The MC5, etc...let's not forget, those bands were ripoffs too. February 9, 2007

Totally Fun but not Genius

I don't know why this album in particular has instigated this tirade from me but for some reason all the bad reviews have really pissed me off. For whatever reason I'm in the habit of reading the lowest rated reviews of albums I like first. Usually I just laugh at the ignorant fools who say stuff like, "The Velvet Underground is the most over rated band in history," and you won't find a more vigorous Velvets defender than me. But the handful of lousy reviews for this album, which I don't even give 4 stars myself, really made me mad.
First of all, I think that in 2006 it's really idiotic to dismiss a band because they sound like another band. So the Hives are obviously derivative of the MC5, the Kinks, Da Stooges, etc. and those bands did it first and better. Of course they did... THEY'RE THE F**KING MC5! But you know what? The MC5 hasn't made any new music since 1971. So any band that worships them as much as I do is cool with me. As long as they don't rip off riffs directly I'm ok with "derivative". Because if you like that old-school crummy rock it's hard to come by and you should be dying for more. Besides in this day and age it's almost impossible to NOT be derivative of something (before you jump down my throat, I know there are exceptions: Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Tom Waits - off the top of my head). As long as it's done right, with the appropriate reverence/humor, it's perfectly acceptable to wear your influences on your sleeve.
Secondly, when people complain that a 30 minute rock album is a rip off because it's too short just tells me that those idiots have absolutely no understanding of rock-n-roll at all let alone the history of the music business. You see, in the glory days before Compact Discs destroyed music 30 - 40 minutes was the most music you could cram on an LP without losing fidelity. More than that and you had to either cram the grooves so close you lost sound or you had to move it on to a second LP which was prohibitively expensive. That's part of the reason some of those first 2 lp albums are real classics, i.e. The White Album, Exile on Maine Street, Blonde On Blonde. [Actually the White Album is a bad example because it was the first album on Apple Records but you get my point.] In order to convince the label to put out two LPs you really had to have something to say. Otherwise your album got cut to fit the medium, therefore you left the weaker songs off the record. The CD's 75 minute format allowed artists to become very poor self-editors. Whatever crap they recorded got slapped on the CD. Rarely is there a 75, or even 60 minute album that is good all the way through but, now, the music buying public, in true American-Consumer fashion, has come to demand quantity over quality. "If I'm going to spend $18 on a CD I better be getting 75 minutes of music even if 45 minutes of that is pabulum I'll never listen to." (For a few years a backlash to this has been building, hence the success of iTunes.)
Anyway, my long rambling point is that - More Is Rarely Better! The Hives' 30 Minute Veni Vidi Vicious is the perfect length. No filler. No tedious solos that need to be skipped over. The longest song clocks in at 3:22; no time to get bored here. Just 12 short kick-ass examples of garage rock in almost it's purest form. I say "almost" because, despite what some reviewers here say, this album is overproduced. Personally, I really cherish that recorded-in-my-parent's-basement kind of feel to my crappy rock records; this album is obviously meant to be a little bit more radio friendly. I can't fault them for that but it's just not my thing.
Bottom line is that this is a fun record and I think that a majority of the reviews have missed this point. If you understand that when I call some music "crappy" I don't necessarily mean it derogatorily or if you appreciate Lenny Kaye's Nuggets Collection or if you have a collection of cherished 45s you bought at local rock shows then I trust this album will make you smile. No, it's not as good as the MC5 or the Stooges or what ever high water marks you want set for Rock... But what is? If you can't get over that I can only suggest your life would be much happier if you get off that pretentious pole you've got lodged in your rectum. March 20, 2006

AMAZING!!!!

i love the Hives. This album is so fast and loud and not like anything else around today, i don't understand how you could not like it. Sure Howlin' Pelle is a bit hard to understand, but he's so high energy and amazing! if you like music, you definetly need to own this CD March 18, 2006

ROCK OUT!!

Its been a while since a band like the Hives have been around. Bands liike the Stooges and the New York Dolls were bands that had the energy, the anger, and the talent to pioneer punk rock. Raw Power by the Stooges especially showed what a breakneck speed thrashing guitars, anthemic, though at times repetitive drum work, and a screeching voice can do. The Hives remind me so much of these great bands, and they certainly hold their own.

This album is packed into a half hour, but after that short half hour, you will feel like you need to sit down somewhere and take a breather. The screaming, breaking vocals of Howlin' Pelle never ceases to amaze me. One reviewer stated that musically this album was amazing, but the voice was horrible. But in response to that, how many other singers could keep up with their music, and maintain the energy??

This is such a fun album. Some of my favorites are the anti-capitlaist Die, Alright!, Main Offender, Hate to Say I Told You So, and The Hives Introduce the Metric System of Time. one thing to know about this album, not to stray from the quality of the album, is that it just might have been the Hives golden age. Their debut Barely Legal is faster, harder, and much sloppier. this approach has its appeal, but it isn't the amazing punk rock record that this is. Their followup to this album, Tyrannosaurus Hives, was good, but it seemed to have mellowed some. I guess most bands don't feel they can only put out continually crazy albums, and i am proud of them for experimenting with more serious forms of rock. but their specialities are seen here. so pick this up, and prepare to fall in love as you are rocked straight out of your socks! (heh heh sorry for the bad pun, it just seemed to fit!) November 18, 2005

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