Tales From The Porn: ‘H.M.M.V.’

TALES FROM THE PORN
H.M.M.V.
Released on September 15, 2017 (Animal Records)

Review:
Back to the best of the ’80s — that’s really the best way to describe Tales From The Porn‘s debut album H.M.M.V. in a nutshell. It’s been a long time since I heard a new album that borrows so heavily from the ’80s and sounds so authentically like music from the golden era of hard rock / heavy metal. No need to say that I am absolutely loving Tales From The Porn‘s debut album.

What makes Tales From The Porn very interesting is that the album is a result of mixing young blood with a remnant from the ’80s glory days. You have five highly skilled musicians from Brazil spearheaded by lead guitarist Andy Sun and bassist Bento Mello combining forces with Tuff and main Shameless frontman Stevie Rachelle to come up with an incredible debut album. Now before you think that I am buttering up Rachelle — who happens to be the principal for “rival” or “sister” website Metal Sludge — you should know that I never followed Metal Sludge until after taking over the reigns for the Sleaze Roxx website back in June 2015 and have never been a fan of the rather negative articles on that site.

In fact, I have never been a fan of Rachelle‘s musical output until hearing Tales From The Porn for the first time. Funny enough, after introducing myself to Rachelle last year at the Rock N Skull Festival while the singer was manning the Metal Sludge booth, I was in the audience while he performed with Tuff. After the concert, Rachelle noted to me that it looked like I was not familiar at all with the Tuff material and frankly, he was right. Tuff were one of those bands that I just never got into. That being said, I may just have to explore Rachelle’s back catalog because Tales From The Porn‘s debut album is simply fantastic.

H.M.M.V. starts off the aptly named opening track “Back To The ’80s” which opens with a guitar riff that absolutely screams ’80s. Man, we need more great guitar riffs like that one. In fact, it’s almost like the poster child for THE guitar riff of the ’80s. Pretty soon, Rachelle‘s vocals kick in but in an almost talking like fashion before the singer quickly kicks into high gear screaming his way through the track. The chorus is a thing of beauty and will have you singing along in no time. And what can you say about Andy Sun‘s guitar solo — smoking!!! Now usually after a standout song like “Back To The ’80s”, you’re expecting the album to fall down a few notches but amazingly, Tales From The Porn keep up the pace and solid songs throughout the entire record. “Runaway Lovers” and “Hot Girls Fast Cars” keep up the catchy songs peppered with killer guitar sounds reminiscent of the ’80s heavy metal.

The one track that goes a little overboard to the cheesy side of the ’80s is “Tales From The Porn” which uses the word “motherfucker” just a little too much. It’s definitely a catchy track that will likely go over really well live but the whole “motherfucker” overloading is a bit disappointing. I do enjoy the attention to detail such as the reference to AC/DC‘s “Back In Black” on “Tales From The Porn” with Rachelle screaming the words “Back in black” like Brian Johnson would. “Perfect Love” takes the pedal off the metal and has some nice melodies while slowing the pace a little bit. “Girls Wanna Party (In Augusta Street)” is another classic ’80s sounding track that is hard not to like right from the first listen. Perhaps the most intriguing song on H.M.M.V. is the group’s cover of the Kenny Loggins‘ ’80s classic “Danger Zone.” It doesn’t get much more ’80s than picturing that song playing during the blockbuster Tom Cruise led Top Gun movie. Hearing Tales From The Porn come up with a very good version of the track, one just wonders why didn’t a heavy metal group cover this song a long time ago? It’s almost like a no brainer if you’re going to do an album that pays homage so well to the ’80s like Tales From The Porn have successfully accomplished.

Another thing that I really like about Tales From The Porn‘s H.M.M.V. album is that the group kept it to nine strong tracks. I tell you, there’s no filler on this record. It’s one good song after another with some tracks hitting the great mark like “Back To The ’80s.” If you love the golden era of hard rock / heavy metal (i.e. the ’80s) and/or lament how there are no new bands coming up with great music like back in the ’80s, you owe it to yourself to check out Tales From The Porn‘s debut album H.M.M.V. which will fit very nicely alongside your favorite albums from the ’80s.

Track List:
01. Back To The 80’s
02. Runaway Lovers
03. Hot Girls Fast Cars
04. Tales From The Porn
05. Perfect Love
06. Girls Wanna Party (In Augusta Street)
07. Let It Shake
08. Danger Zone
09. Scary Movie

Band Members:
Stevie Rachelle – lead vocals
Andy Sun – lead guitar, backing vocals
Bento Mello – bass, backing vocals
Bruno Marx – rhythm guitar
Ed Avian – drums
Igor Godoi – keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:
Cyntia Mendes – backing vocals (2)
Roger Benet – guitar solo (8)
Diego Armelin – second guitar solo (9)

Production:
Produced, mixed and mastered by Henrique Baboom
Lead vocals recorded and engineered by Adam Hamilton (1-2, 4 to 9)
Lead vocals recorded and engineered by Matt Thor (3)

Band Websites:
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Reviewed by Olivier for Sleaze Roxx, October 2017

Tales From The Porn‘s “Perfect Love” lyric video:

TALES FROM THE PORN – PERFECT LOVE (LYRIC VIDEO)

NEW SONG ALERT!!Here´s the lyric video for Perfect Love from our debut album H.M.M.V (out September 15th- Animal Records)Video By: Julia Bueno and Léo Xavier…

Tales From The Porn‘s “Back To The ’80s” song:

BACK TO THE 80’S by talesfromtheporn

Tales From The Porn – Back To The 80’s Stevie Rachelle – Vocals Andy Sun – Guitar Bruno Marx – Guitar Bento Mello – Bass Edgar Avian – Drums