Still bringing the funk
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 07/26/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"1992's Groovus Maximus was the second album from Swedish funk metal act Electric Boys. The band had a hit with their 1990 debut album Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride, which was released just in time for mainstream radio's brief fascination with funk metal (back when you heard names like Bang Tango and Mindfunk in the same sentence as the Red Hot Chili Peppers).
Groovus Maximus picks up right where Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride left off, with a bass-heavy, funk-inspired hair metal sound with plenty of horns. Like nearly all Swedish rock albums (I think it's written in their constitution), Groovus Maximus is a very melodic album. It's also, unfortunately, an uneven album. There are some genuinely memorable songs on the album, like Bed of Roses or the Beatles-esque Mary in the Mystery World, but there is a lot of filler as well. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of music, but the band's debut album impressed me in a way that this album just fails to do.
Groovus Maximus did not prove to be anywhere near as successful as Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride, and by 1992 the grunge movement was starting to push anything even remotely tied to hair metal out of the mainstream. The band would issue one more album - 1994's Freewheelin' - before going their separate ways.
NOTE: Groovus Maximus was reissued in 2005 with digitally remastered audio and a handful of bonus demo tracks. If you're a major fan of the Electric Boys, you'll probably want to check out the pricey reissues. If you're just casually interested in the band's sound, you should be able to grab a used copy of the original release for a dollar or two.
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Track Listings (18) - Disc #1