Golden Earring - Tits 'n Ass (2012)

More than nine years after their last regular studio release, the living legends and the oldest still active Rock band in the world - founded back in 1961 in the Netherlands beat town The Hague - is back in force with a brand new release called "Tits 'n Ass."
Golden Earring is a band that has nothing left to prove. Throughout their entire career, they have made stunning records in genres such as the Nederbeat, Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, and now theyre venturing into a more Hard Rock inspired sound. The band had a couple of hit singles such as the classic Hard Rock anthem Radar Love, the atmospheric Progressive masterpiece Twilight Zone, or the catchy When the Lady Smiles with its unforgettable video clip. The band also created a lot of forgotten treasures that I still listen to from time-to-time such as the highly diversified Eight Miles High, the weird Psychedelic Rock anthem She Flies on Strange Wings, or the soft Progressive Rock epic Vanilla Queen. Even though the band did never get a true mainstream success during their career, they are one of those classic bands any fan of Rock music, of any kind, should definitely know. I would almost call them as essential as the amazing Rush, for example, even though the Dutch never got the same kind of attention. The band definitely does a better job on this record in comparison to the recent outputs from the old heroes like AC/DC, THE Rolling Stones, or Status Quo.
Golden Earring are old now but they still rock in their sweet sixties. Tits n Ass kicks off with two energizing and quite catchy Hard Rock tracks: the solid Identical and the even more addicting Little Time Bomb. The band still sounds fresh and hungry in songs like Flowers in the Mud. The laid down ballad What Do I Know about Love shows us another side of the band that still varies a lot. Dope Runner is the only more Progressive-oriented track featuring the best drum passages on the entire record and a quite diversified musicianship that make this song a definite highlight among the 14 tracks. The band still cares about actual topics as they prove in Justin Time, a cool and laid-down track about the mass media phenomenon around JUSTIN BIEBER. In comparison to other bands that overtly criticize and despise the young Canadian, the wise Dutch Rockers are way more subtle and create some truly interesting lyrics on this one. The track is more diversified than the young Canadians entire discography and features hypnotizing Rockabilly rhythms, harmonic retro sounds, and a quite catchy chorus. This song is definitely another highlight on this album. Lets also mention the groovy Avenue Of Broken Dreams that surprises as a quite danceable track that could even come from a band such as Franz Ferdinand if it was a little bit faster. The Dutch band still proves that they have an open mind and something left to say; its also no surprise that the record just got the highest position in the Dutch album charts for the very first time since N.E.W.S. back in 1984.
Of course, this record cant mess with the bands golden years and unforgettable albums such as Seven Tears, Moontan or Cut. On the other side, the band has also released weaker records and this one is a solid-to-pretty-good release and far from being a deception. The new record contains no true stinker even though there are some more-or-less engaging fillers such as Over the Cliff into the Deep Deep Blue that keep this record from getting an even better rating. A true highlight is missing on this album but, in the end, the band still rolls just as smoothly as the beautiful Cadillac they sing about in this albums single. ~metal-observer

Track listing
01. Identical (3:30)
02. Little Time Bomb (3:56)
03. Cool as It Gets (4:14)
04. Acrobats and Clowns (4:10)
05. What Do I Know About Love (4:32)
06. Still Got the Keys to My First Cadillac (3:49)
07. Dope Runner (3:43)
08. This Love (4:01)
09. Stratosphere (4:37)
10. Over the Cliff into the Deep Deep Blue (3:24)
11. Flowers in the Mud (4:10)
12. Justin Time (3:46)
13. Avenue of Broken Dreams (3:42)
14. Wanted by Women (4:09)

Personnel
- Barry Hay / Vocals, Guitars
- George Kooymans / Guitars, Vocals
- Rinus Gerritsen / Bass, Keyboards
- Cesar Zuiderwijk / Drums, Percussion



Thx to RedHotBlues