Upon hearing a name like Massive, the bar is immediately raised. Throw in a debut album titled Full Throttle, and presumptions are ferociously ignited. It’s safe to assume that, without hearing a note, this record will be full of cars, women, and alcohol, lacking any hint of irony or self-reflection. Safe to say, that’s exactly what these Aussie rockers have delivered on Full Throttle.
Opening number, ‘One by One’, erupts with cheesy riffs and brash vocals, somehow mixing Metallica-esque seriousness with Glam Rock arrogance to produce a concoction that is actually quite catchy. You’ll do well to learn the air guitar routine for all the solos, put it that way. Massive then embed a remarkable amount of Rock history into their music, as ‘Holiday’ reeks of an up-tempo Guns N’ Roses, while ‘Dancefloor’ clearly explores a more Indie, mainstream route. In parts, ‘Ghost’ slows things down to near Red Hot Chili Peppers’ territory, and ‘If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)’ couldn’t be any more AC/DC if it tried.
Each track oozes egotism, though; not founded simply because they’re producing bog-standard Rock n Roll, or posing with an array of flash cars and tight leather jackets, but because they are actually good at it all. To describe their music is to describe other bands before them, but what’s interesting is how one influence meanders into another. Rock has always appreciated other Rock, and that’s what is happening on Full Throttle – appreciation, not entirely imitation.
That said, it doesn’t always work out for Massive. The title-track is perhaps the biggest misfire, taking the lines “Catch me if you can” straight from the handbook and driving a little too far with it. It just goes through the motions, rocks out for the sake of rocking out, and lacks the ambition or creativity to do anything else.
Not quite massive, not quite full throttle, but not far off.
