Randy J. Hansen Love in Reverse Review by Gary Hill
This is a no-frills rock and roll album more than it is anything else. There is a DIY element to it, and as such at times it can feel a little awkward, particularly in terms of the vocals. All that said, there is plenty of good music here. I'd say that this is best when it concentrates on the guitar soloing and shoots for a sound a bit like the band DOA.A punk edge to this sound serves it well.
This rocker has a lot of energy and fire. It's part old school rock, part punk and part Americana. It's a bit raw, but also rocks quite well.
Love in Reverse
More of a melodic rocker, this has an extended instrumental introduction. That elevates this number from the first one. The added voices on the chorus also help the piece. As solid as that instrumental bit at the start was, the one later in the tune (with some guitar soloing over the top) surpasses it. There is a drop back to an effective mellow section for some spoken styled vocals. That's another highlight.
If One Tear Should Fall There is some country built into this mellower number. It doesn't work that well for me, though. It's a bit too awkward. The vocal arrangement seems to miss the mark here. The melodic guitar solo, though, is classy.
East Village Girl With a lot of old time rock and roll, this has a definite punk edge to the vocals. The horns lend a lot of oomph to this thing. A really fun stomper, this is a highlight of the set.
Show Her My World
This starts with piano and female backing vocals. That section works quite well. When the lead vocals join the cut isn't quite as strong as it was on the intro, but it is still reasonably effective.
Cry When They're Laughing Hard rock and punk edge merge on this cut. There is a bit of funk in the mix here. I love the guitar fills on this thing. There is an intriguing blues rock vibe here. This just works so well. In fact, I'd consider this the strongest piece of music here.
Two Minutes Hate The intro to the old TV show "Dragnet" starts this. It works from there to a smoking hot punk rocker. This makes me think of DOA in a lot of ways. I love the bass riff that drives this. The bits of soundbite that we get here are a nice touch. The whole cut just works really well. It's another highlight.
Go****n Money As you can guess from the title, this gets a parental advisory. It's part Americana and part punk rock. It's another of the stronger tunes here.
Elinor
More of a balladic cut, this has some duet moments. It's more effective that some of the other melodic stuff here.
Born to Die Melodic rock and a bit of a punk aesthetic merge here. This is another that makes me think of DOA a bit. It's more of a ballad than it is anything else. At over six minutes long, this is the epic of the piece. It really powers up further down the road and we get some smoking hot guitar soloing.
