Bad Baron: ‘The Early Years 2021-2021’ EP

BAD BARON
THE EARLY YEARS 2021-2021 EP
To be released on March 25, 2022 (Bad Baron)

Review:
Scandinavia is of course the spiritual home of most modern glam / sleaze / melodic rock and, on the basis of this fact, Finland’s Bad Baron issue their debut EP with a certain amount of anticipation from the rock press in their homeland and an intention – according to their press package anyway – to take everyone on an “exhilarating ride.”

“Sweet Talker” is a smooth, insistent, keyboard driven track that is probably quite rightly the lead-off single. There are of course elements of Europe and even a smattering of Danger Danger throughout the song, but this often occurs to me whenever any melodic band hits my system. The song, however, is finely played with an infectious chorus that should serve them well on most rock radio outlets. “Sky High” follows with its faintly ludicrous space travel lyrics and, once again, an even more obvious nod to Europe and its familiar “The Final Countdown” opening.

The mid-tempo ballad “End This Way” is a fine song with Tommy Widdows’ guitar and Sammy South’s fine drum backbeat adding gravitas to Alex Kron’s always prominent keyboard and the consistently fine vocals of former “Voice of Finland” contestant Lauri Huovinen making it my personal favourite song on the EP. “Lost In The Night” runs it fairly close in that stake, adding a slight Survivor feeling in both the overall delivery but certainly in the lyrical department. The closing track is a “sweet version” of the single “Sweet Talker” that is nicely tinkled on the piano with an emotive vocal performance, but I did feel that it was an unnecessary addition, despite further showcasing Kron and Huovinen’s obvious talents.

The EP is nicely produced but a little too keyboard heavy for my personal taste. Having said that, Bad Baron acquit themselves admirably as a whole, and there are probably three radio ready hits contained herein which is certainly an excellent return ratio from a five track EP. Definitely far more positives than negatives overall and it will certainly be interesting to see what they come up with on a full album release. Very promising but not quite exhilarating just yet.

Track List:
01. Sweet Talker
02. Sky High
03. End This Way (Does It Really Have To)
04. Lost In The Night
05. Sweet Talker (Sweet Version).

Band Members:
Lauri Huovinen – vocals
Tommy Widdows – guitar
Sammy South – drums
Alex Kron – keyboards

Band Websites:
Official Website
Facebook

Reviewed by Rockney Colin for Sleaze Roxx, March 2022

Bad Baron‘s “Sweet Talker” video: