Sanctuary Records
2003
The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed
About This Album
After unleashing the cleverly titled Riff After Riff After Motherf**king Riff EP in 2002, English hard rockers the Wildhearts took their long overdue comeback trail into full-length album territory with 2003's The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed. Problem is, it may not be the sort of comeback the band's few but fanatic fans were expecting. Sure, most of the old songwriting tricks (heavy guitar bombast, big pop hooks, cleverly snide lyrics) normally employed by prolific singer/guitarist Ginger remain unchanged -- check! The band's inimitable ability to mix Cheap Trick bubblegum with Metallica heavyness is well intact -- check! And the official return of much-loved second guitarist C.J. Jagdhar in itself pretty much validates the reunion exercise as a whole -- check! But for all these validations, ...Must Be Destroyed is still missing a certain, crucial X-factor to help it attain the volatile, unpredictable spark that made the Wildhearts the most dangerous band of the mid-'90s. Opening number "Nexus Icon" is forceful enough, but, like subsequent, chart-minded numbers such as the "Only Love" (featuring Motown-like female backup vocals), "Someone That Won't Let Me Go," and even the not-so "vanilla" "Vanilla Radio," it feels rather predictable and one-dimensional.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3 and 4)

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