NEW RELEASE: RUSH! - Maneskin

 We do not, at least musically, usually encounter Italian imports. Nevertheless, with their massively earned fanbase from Eurovision, Maneskin rather took the world by storm. I do feel they have leaned a little into the "shock rock" factor, but I was very interested where they would end up on their release that is in english. 

The album begins with "Own My Mind", which seems like a much stronger version of "Beggin". I like the instrumental a lot better and the vocals fit it better. Much nicer production. More captivating imagery.

It flows very well into "Gossip". Actually it feels like a proper flow, when you let something or someone else own your mind you end up with a lot of disdain. 

Without the riffs, the lead singers voice is just a little grating to me. This automatically makes the slower songs a bit less appealing to me. "Timezone" however has the most generic chorus rift for this genre and makes it even less interesting. 

"Bla Bla Bla" makes me rather speechless. I am not sure what it is hoping to be. I mean, it is uh. Unique. I will never play this again. 

"Baby Said" is some good old sex drugs and rock n roll. Goes back to the start of the album a bit more. This sound suits them a lot better.

"Gasoline" has this prechorus I just want to put on repeat. I love dramatic drops like this. Certified drama queen enjoying the unnecessary drama of this entire song's production.

"Feel" has some different vocal rifts, but I find them a bit grating. I think they were trying to make it more interesting than it is. When you try too hard, it usually sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Don't Wanna Sleep" would be better as a song without the weird buffering they added to pieces of it. I don't like production pieces that actively pull you out of the song.

Oh no we are back to the production of Bla Bla Bla... It is like some weird mixture of what I don't like about some punk and a mildly grungey rock rift. "Kool Kids" comes off so grating.

Okay, "If Not For You" is actually beautiful. It is a ballad. It shows if he wants to, he can really do amazing with one of these. 

"Read Your Diary" is a very strange song that lyrically feels similar to "Every Breath You Take" in the sense everything he is doing in this song is just creepy and stalkery. Hey, we've needed a new stalker jam in our lives. I'm sure of it.

"Mark Chapman" is actually in Italian and references John Lennon's killer by name. 

"La Fine" is actually also in Italian, it seems translation wise to reference the whirlwind of fame. It shifts to the production I am not as interested in.

"Il Dono Della Vita" is also in Italian, but the vocals and music are exceptional. 

"Mammamia" did not appeal to me at all as a single, and frankly it appeals to me very little now.

"Supermodel" was the first Maneskin song I actually appreciated. Perhaps I liked the references to a time and genre of music I knew. It feels like another Nickelback's "Rockstar". 

The album closes with "The Loneliest", a ballad that just does not do it for me.

LYRICS: 6/10 - I mean, there's nothing particularly exceptional and new said here. Rather graphically sexualized in places but as long as you know what you are getting into.

MUSIC: 8/10 - Some of this is really just genuine enjoyment of the riffs and music itself. I give them credit for doing some things I find rather strange and new, even if it did not work for me.

OVERALL: 7/10 - This is earnestly a lot better than I expected it to be. I really was not going into this planning to enjoy it. It doesn't have enough selections I would personally love, but if you are interested in some modern rock...well take these guys seriously.