POODLES THE

The hard rock menagerie has grown. Now, alongside the English blind leopards and white snakes, as well as the German scorpions, a pen housing Swedish poodles has cozily settled in. THE POODLES formed in 2005 and immediately after the release of their first full-length "Metal Will Stand Tall" in May 2006, they received magnificent publicity. With the song "Night Of Passion," the band entered the Eurovision contest and placed fourth. I don't know what these little fluffy and soft lapdogs have to do with the music THE POODLES play, but there's no trace of saccharine sweetness or airiness here. Dense, melodic hard rock with practically heavy metal heaviness and choruses — just take the anthems "Streets Of Fire" and "Walk The Line" — no rock-n-roll looseness or ubiquitous love themes. Even when it comes to ballads, there's only one here — the decent but somewhat standard "We Are One" (the closer "Shine" doesn't count, as its tempo is more upbeat). The album's highlight is undoubtedly "Kiss Goodbye" — an excellent hard rock anthem with a magnificent, memorable chorus.