Stephen
Swedish Erotica's debut was hailed by many as a classic release, featuring the exceptional screamer, Mats Leven, before his days with German symphonic metal act, At Vance, but unfortunately to me, this is not as good as the rating goes. The reason is quite simple, with Leven's raspy and mighty voice, Swedish Erotica should play a heavier edge of glam, I'm imagining a sound like Skid Row's "Slave" or maybe Motley Crue's "Shout", but what's behind their music is pure pop metal, and they even got some AOR moment here, and that's a big contrast to Leven's voice. His overscream at times ruined the good moment of a smooth song flow and I just don't find him singing in the right band.
Most of the songs also suffered from memorable hooks and tend to be average. Many were inspired by Bon Jovi, Poison, and Winger. There are of course several big numbers such as the opener, "Rock N' Roll City" which is reminiscent of Bon Jovi's "Prayer" with its commercial chorus; the great acoustical ballad, "Hollywood Dreams"; and the Poison-style party rock, "Downtown", but that's just about all the songs that I really like here. Other tracks such as "Love On The Line" is a good sleazy rock, "Love Me or Leave Me" has a nice chorus, and "Loaded Gun" has a notable Dokken-ized verse, but the rest are mostly forgettable. If only Leven sings with ease and more relax, leaving many unnecessary scream behind, and tweaked their weaker songs to a better state, perhaps I will give this couple more stars, but with this quality, 2.5 stars is enough.