8 / 10 - Just when you though it was safe to go out after the Eurovision Song contest hysteria, you'll find that Wig Wam once again is upon us with a new album, entitled "Wig Wamania". The agenda is still pure eighties, traditional melodic hard rock, references to classic bands like Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Kiss, Europe and Van Halen abounding. Catchy choruses, big hooks, uptempo rockers, ballads, guitar solos et cetera - it's all here. As such, nothing new under the sun from the last album, then. I won't do a track-by-track review, as many of you already will have a fair idea of what the album sounds like.
However, compared to Wig Wam's previous release, "Hard to Be a Rock'n'Roller", I find that "Wig Wamania" is a more consistent entity of its own. This CD also has a certain eighties scandinavian AOR vibe to it, as originally made popular by bands like Europe, Treat, Fate, Skagerack, 220 Volt throughout the eighties and early nineties.
My favourite songs on the album are the two semi-ballads, "Slave to Your Love" and "Bygone Zone". The uptempo party rockers "Kill My Rock'n'Roll" and "A R 'n' R Girl Like You" are also excellent, not to mention the wonderful ballad "At the End of the Day", which could easily have been penned by Messrs. Tyler & Perry of Aerosmith. Fans of the debut will be more than pleased with the follow-up, but personally I must admit that I so far find that "Hard to Be a Rock'n'Roller" is the slightly stronger album of the two, as there are a couple of songs on "Wig Wamania" which fail to inspire beyond the average.
That said, though, this is a great album for all us lovers of classic traditional melodic hard rock or "poodle rock" as many like to call it these days.

Review by Terje Høiland, Rock of Norway
www.rockofnorway.com