Madtropolis is something that few bands would be gutsy enough to attempt in 2003: a full-on, '70s-style progressive rock concept album, complete with "heavy" lyrics (as a band,
Chinchilla seems to be against corruption and apathy), a guest cameo by
Motörhead's
"Fast" Eddie Clarke, and a codpiece-classical opening and closing theme played on
Rick Wakeman-style synthesizers! God love 'em for bringing back the days of
Hawkwind (or at least
Queensrÿche), and even better, they managed to record an entire hourlong metal album in 2003 without once stooping to the inane growled cartoon voices that are the bane of post-millennial metal. Actually, if anything, singer Tommy Laasch recalls the histrionic likes of
Iron Maiden's
Bruce Dickenson or
Skid Row's
Sebastian Bach, a keening vocal style that's currently so out of date that it's retro-cool; ditto the so-cheesy-it's-fun power ballad "Satellite," the sort of Bic-lighter sway-along that the likes of
Poison and
Guns N' Roses made a staple of during the late-'80s hair metal scene. There's undeniably something goofy about
Madtropolis, but it's also both endearing in its sincerity and surprisingly powerful. ~ Stewart Mason