Andro [Limited Edition]

by Tommy Lee

Overview

While best known as the drummer in glam metal icons Moetley Cruee, Tommy Lee worked steadily on projects apart from his main gig for decades. Though moments of his first few solo albums (2002's Never A Dull Moment and 2005's Tommyland: The Ride) dabbled with power balladry and crunchy guitars, Lee was an early adopter of rap-metal and has long been fascinated with DJ-ing and electronic music. Anyone paying attention to his solo trajectory since the late '90s won't be shocked by the rap, EDM, and hard funk styles of his third solo album, Andro, but its synthesis of abrasive styles has the potential to be jarring in any context. Rather than putting himself in the spotlight, Lee spends much of Andro as the man behind the curtain, crafting instrumentals for a host of lesser-known rappers and vocalists. The album kicks off with the relentless assault of "Knock Me Down," a blast of squealing samples, walls of bass, and screamed raps from Killvein. This display of frustration and aggression dead-ends into Prince-inspired funk guitars and falsetto vocals on "You Dancy." Lee, a huge Prince fan, also reworks the bouncy Dirty Mind number "When You Were Mine" as a rolling, late-night slow jam. Both of these more R&B geared tracks are sung by Lukas Rossi, and later in the album, King Elle Noir handles the glistening R&B pop of "Make This Storm" and "P.R.E.T.T.Y." Andro is short, with a running time of around 32 minutes, and Lee manages to wrangle multiple approaches into a cohesive statement. Brooke Candy's venomous flows over the busy, dubstep-flavored beat of "Demon Bitches" make the song as much of a standout as the light, romantic EDM of album closer "Make It Back," and somehow both disparate tracks feel born of the same inspiration. Andro, like most of Lee's solo work, will be a hard pill to swallow for anyone expecting throwbacks to '80s hair metal or soundtracks for Sunset Strip debauchery. As a producer, Lee clearly has studied the styles he's approaching here, and his palpable excitement gives Andro a through line of personality. Taken without any greater context, it's this energetic excitement that carries Andro and keeps its various exercises in genre and production from liquefying into a confusing mess. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	10/16/2020
Label:	Better Noise
UPC:	0849320085614
Rank:	63524

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tommy Lee   Primary Artist
John 5   Guitar
Josh Todd   Featured Artist
Mickey Avalon   Featured Artist
Push Push   Featured Artist
Eddie Rap Life   Vocals
Lukas Rossi   Featured Artist
Shotty Horroh   Featured Artist
Brooke Candy   Featured Artist
Moon Bounce   Featured Artist
Post Malone   Featured Artist
Plya   Featured Artist
Killvein   Featured Artist
King Elle Noir   Featured Artist
PAV4N   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Bob Rock   Mixing
Tommy Lee   Mixing,Producer,Remixing
Smiley Sean   Mixing
Nathan Dantzler   Mastering
Myriam Santos   Photography
Rick Canny   Management
Todd Gallopo   Design,Art Direction
Adam Greenholtz   Mixing
Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo   Mixing
Moon Bounce   Producer
TWNTYMLS   Mixing
Dylan Lee Syben   Producer
Desmond South   Drum Programming
Killvein   Producer