J.B.O. – 11 – Power Of Metal.dk

I have no idea how much Metal fans outside of Germany know about J.B.O., but over here many people perceive them as a kind of German “Tenacious D”, or maybe as a (only slightly) tamer German version of Steel Panther, or maybe van Stone.Think mostly easy going Party Hard Rock with certain tendencies towards Old School Heavy Metal, maybe some Southern Rock and lots of silliness thrown in for good measure.

Their silliness shows mostly in the lyrics which is exactly what makes the band so appealing to most German Metalheads. You get fun music and funny lyrics, it is as simple as that. The downside of this is that most of J.B.O.’s appeal will be inaccessible to you unless you have an excellent grasp of the German language. Take the song “Panzer Dance” for instance where the lyrics are written from the perspective of an imaginary character who is trying to entertain a crowd that would likely scare even the most hardcore NRA representative. The uplifting beat and the cheerful way with how the ultra-militaristic lyrics are presented make up for an absurd contrast that leaves no doubt that J.B.O. is actually making fun of this particular attitude. This should also explain as to why J.B.O. will You would simply not understand J.B.O.’s humour and sarcasm without it and might even end up taking the band’s lyrics at face value! And even if your German is good enough, you better do not adhere to the “Metalheads don’t smile” credo either, because you know…fun…silliness…humour… (“Wir lassen uns das Blödeln nicht verbieten”). That’s how they do their party songs (“Metaller”) and that’s how they do their more serious songs like the aforementioned “Panzer Dance”, or “Söderla!“.

But life is not just about parties and politics, life is also about communication and getting subtle hints from your girlfriend about her plans for later (“5 Minuten”). I’m not going to spoil the joke, but you better get her gentle hints, or else she might decide to put your stamina to the test! “Ich hätt gern mehr” goes in the same vain. No spoilers. J.B.O. is not just about sex though (okay, minor spoiler), they are also about love, it is just that they sing about love J.B.O. style (“Verliebt”… no, absolutely no spoiler here!).

The only thing where J.B.O. fails completely are the spoken jokes thrown in between the songs here and there, but then, maybe these jokes are intentionally bad? I have no idea, but I am glad that it is pretty easy to skip them.

Now, what about the rating? 8 devils! The music is decent Hard Rock/Heavy Metal with some Metal influence that will likely also entertain fans who cannot speak German.