Personnel: Ole Evenrude (vocals); Trond McHolter (guitar, keyboards); Ole Petter Hansen (drums); Kyf Brewer, Robin Beck, John Fiore (background vocals).
Originally released in 1989, Evenrude's One Size Fits All was Norwegian pop-metal heartbreaker Ole Evenrude's second full-length. It's nonstop fun, blending overdone schlock and hilariously bad lyrics with some undeniably melodic and catchy rock. In other words, it's faithful to the Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, and Bad English records it emulates. (Ole's a ringer for John Waite on the power ballad "Broken Heart.") "25 Years of Rock 'n' Roll" and "Desperado" come from the bandit zone of rock songwriting, a place where the sheriff is always chasing the leather jacketed hero for deflowering his daughter. But what's Ole to do? "It's in my body/It's in my soul/I'm 25 years old/Rock & roll!" -- he's honest about his intentions. There's some terrific guitar work throughout One Size Fits All from Trond Holter; his arsenal includes the usual weapons, such as squeaking pull-offs, the addition of at least a little grit to the predominance of terrible keyboards, and the smoothing out of riffs borrowed liberally from heavier acts. To that end, Evenrude sounds like the eager love child of Journey and Judas Priest. [Devotees of the group will note the inclusion of four unreleased bonus tracks, including a ridiculous sugar-metal version of AC/DC called "She Looks Like a Billon Bucks."] ~ Johnny Loftus
