Summary of the best rock’n’roll ever written in twenty shots of pure musical vivisection of rock history, “Hi-Balls Are Rolling!” of Adam West is an album we could consider exemplar. Not all day, indeed, we can find together, on the same cd, songs of bands that have, each one in their own way, left an inerasable footprint into the glorious history of rock and roll. Twenty tracks (all released by Adam West from 1999 to 2002) with a high entertainment rate to deepen in long and large every corner (from lo-fi r’n’ to street punk, from rockabilly to hard-rock, from garage to sixties to blues’n’roll) the latest quarter of century of rock, framed from a closer perspective to the audience and with a clear cover band approach. They start with the re-release of the e.p. of AC/DC and “Cold Sweat” of Thin Lizzy. Then, in a rigorous scattered order, “Asteroid B-612” of Sonic’s Rendezvous, “Neat Neat Neat” of The Damned, the celeber “Psycho Therapy” of Ramones, “Supernaut” marked Black Sabbath and “Kiss Of Steel” by Samhain. Again, they continue with “Real Time”, remake of a track by Stooges, “Burned My Eye” of Radio Birdman, “Dog Meat” by Flamin’ Groovies and “SWLABR”, classic of Cream. Beside that, in a bunch of originals that cannot disfigure, a sort of parade of modern rock and roll, in the sense it strongly inspires to the classic and in some chance (“Your Wish Is My Command”, “Nine”, “Yr Days Are Numbered, Motherfucker”) it even plays better. Songs spread a bit everywhere until some year ago, among split-cd and tribute albums, and only now gathered by the german People Like You on digital support. An album of pure revival that offers only fun and party-time, placing middle way between the retro rock of Strokes and White Stripes and the horror punk of Misfits and Electric Frankenstein.

Flavio Ignelzi