28. May 2025
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Media Review

Bad Baron – Ace of Hearts

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Bad Baron - Ace Of Hearts

Bad Baron - Ace Of Hearts
3.5

Rating

 3.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very talented band
  • Nice, nostalgic sound with some good sing-a-longs

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Too many weak spots

There are so many genres of rock music that I so often just don’t feel like a worthy music reviewer at all. In one article about Bad Baron, I ready that their genre is sleaze rock (I would have named it something between glam rock and hard rock). Bad Baron’s debut album release on 26th August 2022 is Ace of Hearts, I had a listen.

 

Bad Baron – About The Artists

The first quote about Bad Baron on their website is “Undefeated giants of the musical arts”. At least this rather new project from Finland is rather self-confident. The band has four members. Lauri Huovinen is the singer and bassist of the band. He took part in the 2020 edition of The Voice of Finland. Tommy Widdow is playing the guitar, Alex Kron does the keys and Sammy South is the drummer. In March 2022, they summed up their 2021 releases in a five track EP named The Early Years: 2021-2021. 

 

Bad Baron – Ace Of Hearts – Track by Track

The thirteen song album lasts 47 minutes.

1. Edge Of Your Dreams

That’s a hot start of the album! Edge Of Your Dreams is a fun listen from the very first moment, when the song starts by teasing the chorus. A touch of nostalgia and synth-rock, which makes me smile.

2. Can You Love Someone

The sound of the second song does not change that much – the Scandinavians present rock with a touch of good, old 1980’s rock bands. The chorus of Can You Love Someone feels a bit more boring and less exciting than Edge Of Your Dreams, though.

3. Breakdown In Communication

Breakdown In Communication comes with a nice melodic line. The song writes its own signature on Ace Of Hearts. Nontheless, I feel that the band feels a bit tired and bored in here. The smashing energy of the opener is missing, even though the song as such is a good one.

4. Hungry

After I struggled with the two songs before slightly, Hungry rather leaves me listening to Bad Baron with a smile again. The song is a bit slower, but thereby comes with a more hymnic touch.

5. Rebel Heartache

The Rebel Heartache almost lasts five minutes and is thus the longest listen of the album. The material is good, but again, I feel they could have been braver, more energetic, more rocking while finishing the song. A nice feature about this track indeed is that the long duration gives Bad Baron the opportunity to play with very different styles and atmospheres. They definitely make good use of that.

6. Lights Go Out

Lights Go Out starts like a hard rocker with smashing riffs – and it keeps its promise. Even though the sixth song feels like some other Finnish songs in the past which made us move our heads to guitar tunes – I love it!

7. Interlude

Just when I am back in the Bad Baron mood, track 7 comes. An interlude – or the 46 second mental cool-down. Let’s hope that the next ones catches me again.

8. Our Story Isn’t Over

Every rocker needs to be romantic – thus, the “undefeated giants” go for the ballad section. The ballad thing does not really work out well – other bands wrote much better stuff in here. Not a reason to believe that this story shouldn’t be over.

9. Going Down In Flames

You can rock, you can move to the music, you can sing along to Going Down In Flames – even though I feel that Bad Baron slow down the pace a bit too much in the verses, the chorus of Going Down In Flames is a great one. Apart from that, the song gives Alex Kron a nice opportunity to present some other keyboard sounds as well. Good one.

10. Rock In The City

Kron on the keys and Sammy South on the drums are the two band members who have most presence at the beginning of the 4:27 minute smasher Rock In The City. When the guitar is joining and the background chorus is periodically yelling a Yeah in the background, the song is more and more creating a great touch. One of the best tracks of the album.

11. One Minute to Midnight

The second half of the album has some real gems. One Minute to Midnight comes with some of the most catching moments of the album (tik-tok tik-tok, it’s getting closer…) and a great melody. Why haven’t these guys delivered more songs like this in the first half of Ace Of Hearts?

12. Long Road Home

What’s that? Long Road Home sounds like a bad campfire country song… after too much alcohol. The song starts with strumming guitars, before it develops a stronger rock touch. Overall, I don’t get the concept and go for the skip button here. It prevents me from a worse rating.

13. Anthem Of Rock ‘N’ Roll

The title of the closer feels promising – and I can’t deny that the song has a nice touch. Could be a good song for a larger venue, as there is a sing-a-long potential with the hard folk rock-alike chorus. However, the track is not at all a must-listen.

 

Bad Baron – Ace Of Hearts – Spotify

Here is Ace of Hearts on Spotify:

 

Bad Baron – Ace Of Hearts – My View

I am a bit of disappointed about Ace Of Hearts. I feel that Bad Baron definitely illustrates a lot of potential as a band. However, there are too many weak spots on this debut album. Concentrate on your strengths, guys, and there will be much more fun with the sophomore long play!

 

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