Wasting the Dawn

AMG Review of Wasting the Dawn

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

With such releases as 1994's Motor City Resurrection and 1995's Savage Garden, the 69 Eyes made it clear early on that they had a soft spot for proto-punk and glam. But heavy metal didn't truly rear its head as part of the band's sound until 1999's Wasting the Dawn. As heard by such selections as the album-opening "Truck On," "Lazarus Heart," and "Be My Speed," the group wastes little time showing they can riff and thrash with the rest of the metal bands. Additionally, singer Jyrki 69 even gives Peter Steele a run for his money in the vampire/ghoul vocal department on "Hand of God" and "Wasting the Dawn" (the latter of which is supposedly a tribute of sorts to Jim Morrison). Not quite as derivative as their aforementioned early releases, Wasting the Dawn shows that the 69 Eyes are perhaps slowly but surely finding their own voice in the realm of hard rock. [As with all the other 69 Eyes reissues from 2007, Wasting the Dawncomes with several bonus tracks, including a remix of the aforementioned "Wasting the Dawn."]