Stephen Crashdiet is probably the biggest controversy in its genre, with their original singer committed suicide, the second replacement singer left to form a rival band, and now came Simon Cruz, the third singer, blowing a living breath to the band by helping them create a superior album, "Generation Wild", which is on par with their sensational debut. With three singers and three albums, I don't think it's an easy job to survive, but Crashdiet preserved their existence and I must raise a glass of beer for them.

"Generation Wild" is a rare commodity that combined a complete set of elements that I love very much which is the heaviness of early glam, the naughtiness of sleaze rock, and the big punchy anthem of melodic rock. My most fave tracks here are : "Armageddon", a superb dirt digger midtempo sleaze madness with a huge chorus; the title track which can be a soundtrack to the rebellious youth gang; the fiery uptempo track of "Rebel"; the gigantic heavy metal piece of "Down With The Dust"; the commercial melodic hard rock tune, "Chemical"; and the Dokken-fueled "Bound To Fall". I can't find any weak links here, all of them are great and enjoyable, including the mandatory ballads, "Save Her" and "Beautiful Pain".

Simon Cruz has a strong voice, he's truly a gifted singer and the band sealed a very good deal by recruiting him. This magnificent album upped their game again, and for fans of heavy metal, sleaze, and melodic rock, this is your dream album, a tribute to the late Dave Lepard, a must buy!

Bottomline : Swingin' high to the top again