The Rasmus: Weirdo
Nordics rock sensation The Rasmus are back with their 11th studio album. Powered by heavy riffs, frontman Lauri Ylönen’s explosive vocals, production and songwriting by heavyweights Desmond Child and Marti Frederiksen, ‘Weirdo’ is yet another evidence that The Rasmus rightfully deserve their honourable place on the global rock scene – they did back in the early 00s and they do now just as much.
The main theme for the album circles around the problematique – and the power – of the misfits, the outsiders, the weirdos. In fact, this theme has been carried throughout the entire career of the band spanning more than 30 years.
Vocalist Lauri finds it “comforting that our 11th album, Weirdo, has pretty much the same message as on our first album released in 1996”. “It is to defend and praise the ones who are different from the masses and proudly being themselves as they are. It has been our philosophy from the very beginning”, he explains.
Anthem-shaped, highly energised choruses are the essence of this album – which will hardly come as a surprise given that Desmond Child was heavily involved (the mastermind behind a plethora of the biggest songs in rock history including Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ and ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’, Kiss’ ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’ and Aerosmith’s ‘Crazy’ and many, many more). Marti Frederiksen, co-songwriter of several songs by Aerosmith since the mid-1990s, including ‘Jaded’ and ‘Nine Lives’, further contributes to the album’s solid qualities. Songwriting credits also go to The Rasmus’ vocalist – Ylönen.
The tracklist to ‘Weirdos’ opens with ‘Creatures of Chaos’ – the second single off the album which welcomes the “trainwrecks, rejects” to a place where they’d belong and feel united. Driven by highly energised riffs and unwavering vocal assurance, the song further discovers the outsiders’ true power lying in twistedness itself and suggests that “the future belongs to us”.
Next in line is ‘Break These Chains’ which I would outline as the strongest play on ‘Weirdos’. The song brings prowess to the fore, with astounding vocal performances from both Lauri and Niko Vilhelm, vocalist of Finnish nu metal band Blind Channel.
Released a few months ago as the third single off the album, ‘Break These Chains’ explores the very dark, emotionally charged and difficult to navigate space of toxic relationships. As per Lauri’s description, it’s about “letting go of something that you know is bad for you, but you’re obsessed with”.
The album travels on the same train of thought with ‘Love is a Bitch’, the latest single off the album. As the title suggests, the song doesn’t shy away from strong language and is charged with raw anger against what is presumably now an ex-lover of the protagonist. The lyrics, really, speak for themselves:
“Girl, you put that knife in me
Stabbed me in the back like a killer bee
Could’ve got me free, but you made me bleed
Now I’m on my knees”
Similar notion is felt in ‘Rest In Pieces’, which was released late last year as the first single off the album. Written by Ylönen, the song also features strong language aimed at closing the door for someone the protagonist no longer has in their life – and, by the sound of it, it is for the better.
The rest of the songs from the album are also worth highlighting, including slightly slower-tempoed ‘Weirdo’ featuring Lee Jennings (vocalist of rock band The Funeral Portrait), ‘Bad Things’ – a beautifully mastered throwback to rock classics from the 80’s and ‘Banksy’ – a song that draws a comparison between a ‘teaser’ with spider eyes and the ‘last graffiti’ of pseudonymous street artist Banksy.
In fact, the only downside to this album is that it only contains 10 tracks, whereas as a listener, one wouldn’t want to get enough of the band and its evolved sound. With ‘Weirdo’, The Rasmus delivered what they do best – and they did it mahtava!
P.S.: ‘Weirdo’ is out everywhere on 12 September – and if you’re one with appreciation for dope rock music, my advice would be to give this album a listen – or a hundred (like I did).