Product Description

The Hives have a reputation for edgy, frantic and energeticrock 'n' roll, accompanied by ultra confidence and a strictdress code of black and white. The Swedish outfit follow-up2004's 'Tyrannosaurus Hives' with the suitably titled 'The Black And White Album', which contains machine-gun vocals from Howlin' Pelle Almqvist and trademark guitar riffs, complimented by a suitably tight rhythm section. The album is partly produced by Pharrell Williams, with 'Tick Tick Boom' an included single.

Track Listing

1. Tick Tick Boom
2. Try It Again
3. You Got It All... Wrong
4. Well All Right!
5. Hey Little World
6. A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors
7. Won't Be Long
8. T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.
9. Return The Favour
10. Giddy Up!
11. Square One Here I Come
12. You Dress Up For Armageddon
13. Puppet On A String
14. Bigger Hole To Fill
15. Fall Is Just Something Grownups Invented

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15765 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 48 minutes

Customer Reviews

Black and white indeed.
This is a bit of a difficult album to review - and I had to think long and hard about whether or not it was worthy of 3 or 4 stars.

The problem is this - when its good, its bloody good. Possibly some of the best material they've produced. There's absolute belters like "Tick, Tick, Boom" and the marvellous "Try It Again". Pure, unadulterated Hive-tastic feel good rock out tunes. "You Got it All Wrong" again - classic shout along, quirky Hives.

The formula isn't in need of fixing - and they're certainly not pushing any boundaries - and they don't need to.

Where it falls down and drops that star is on tracks like "It Won't Be Long", "T-H-E-H-I-V-E-S" & the awful "Giddy Up". They're almost there in parts - but its clear that Pharell has had a (bad) influence here. The Hives are NOT hip-hop. To me these tracks fall flat and The Pharell connection fails. They're probably great if you're into hip-hop or whatever but I'm not and neither are they. They contain nothing that makes the Hives stand out.

Thankfully we're back to normal service by "Square One Here We Come" and the sublime "You Dress Up For Armageddon." The less said about "Puppet on a String" the better and "Bigger Hole to Fill" rounds it off nicely.

The quality of the good tracks push this firmly into 4 territory - but its a pity about Pharell's meddling. I'm not normally used to skipping tracks on a Hives album so fingers crossed on a different producer that will leave them alone to do their own very special thing next time.

A more evolved sound
It's good to see this band progressing and experimenting with new sounds. Fans of the first two albums may be surprised by the evolved sound of tracks like A Stroll Through Hive Manor, and The Hives, Puppet On A String, but this album is a step forward, and people don't like change!

The band still enjoy their anthem 3-chord progression tracks with the opening Tick Tick Boom, even the video on MTV should have old school fans running to the local store to buy this album. Later tracks like You Dress For Armageddon, Well Allright, Return The Favour once again establish the band as punk pioneers and creators of fine good musik.

The Hives - Black and White
My daughter gave me this album to listen to ,to prepare me for The Hives Hammersmith concert (I am sad and don't like my kids going to concerts without an adult supervising). I'm a firm Rammstein fan and I hadn't really taken to the earlier Hives music but I must say WOW.
This album is slick and well produced. All the tracks run well into each other and it all is well ordered except the orchestrial piece ' A stroll through Hive manor corridors' which doesn't really fit into the rest of the album.
What grabbed me the most about this album is the energy and fun factor. Seems a strange comment but once you listen to this you'll know what I mean. 'Won't be long' and 'Try it again' are some of the best moshing music I've heard in years (not good for driving).Where as 'Tick tick boom' and 'Bigger Hole to fill' are just good singing tracks.
For you older folk (my era) some of the album has Punk sounding overtones from the 80's -Return the Favour, You dress up Armageddon. So a bit of everything for everyone.
The most surprising album I've heard in ages and frankly I'm really impressed. Since borrowing it , I'm loath to give it back to my daughter and I hope you feel the same.
Even if you aren't a Hive fan or never heard them before- give this album a shot... it really is very good.