It has been a good year since THE BOSS HOSS released their new album “Liberty of Action“. This album was enthusiastically received by the press and fans alike. Extensive airplay on the radio, over 250,000 copies sold, chart placements in Germany, Austria, and sold-out venues. It seems that everything the guys do is crowned with success.
Now that the current album has been out for more than a year, the band has decided to release it again. It sounds strange, but that’s how it is.
“Liberty of Action“ has been available since November 30, 2012, as the “Black Edition“.
Metallica have their Black Album, The Hives have their “The Black and the White Album”, and THE BOSS HOSS have their “Black Edition”.
However, it is by no means just a re-release in old clothing, but rather a kind of fan edition. In addition to the album “Liberty of Action“, which is completely included on the audio CD, albeit with some new mixes, there are also new songs on the silver disc for the CD player. One of them is “Deals with the Devil“, the new single from the band from Berlin. It is a typical THE BOSS HOSS song, groovy, catchy, and with its brass section, it almost comes off as a bit orchestral. It’s a song that will surely be played a lot for dancing and has a really cool groove, just as one expects from THE BOSS HOSS. And for those who still have doubts about the band’s coolness, the following lines from the song should be taken to heart:
We just do deals with the devil
Don’t wanna sing like angels
Because God gave Soul
And the Devil Rock’n’Roll
To you, to you and you
Hanging out with the cool guys was already cooler in school in the smoking area than with the good boys in the homework room. But it doesn’t stop with this song; there’s also the very groovy but somewhat more country-oriented “Nothing but the Best“. Lastly, there are three cover versions to listen to, which have been re-composed in the unique THE BOSS HOSS sound combined with the influence of various guests. These include:
- Do you wanna touch me (cover version by Gary Glitter) with The Eagles of Death Metal
- Run, Run, Run (cover version by Lou A. Red) with Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
- Mad Man Blues (cover version by John Lee Hooker) with Triggerfinger
What you get is a fat country-rock monster with 19 tracks and goddamn coolness!
But the real bonus is yet to come, namely the included DVD, with a total running time of three hours. Enough to have a cozy evening with the Berliners. In addition to ten music videos from the band and a making-of of “Live it Up”, particularly “THE BOSSHOSS mess with Texas” and the band documentary (modestly described as “Uncensored Band Rockumentary”) are worth watching.
The band knows what they are doing, and they show it with this release. They are certainly very commercial and have no problem arranging themselves with large corporations like Mercedes-Benz, Red Bull, the Pro7 group, and of course their record label. This can also be seen negatively and is certainly debatable. However, when one isolates the band’s music, it’s just some really awesome stuff that THE BOSS HOSS makes.
The “The Black Edition” (CD + DVD in an elaborate digipack with a thick booklet) is available at the price of a regular CD! What could possibly go wrong?
