Hardcore Superstar

From the Hardcore Superstar site:

Hardcore Superstar formed in autumn 1997 in Gothenburg and signed to Gain soon afterwards. Their debut album was recorded and released in Sweden. The album attracted the attention of English label Music for Nations and a new worldwide contract was drawn up. The new album, which became the band's "official debut album" contains a few new songs, a new cover and has a new name, "Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada". The album contains the hits "Someone Special", "Liberation" and "Have You Been Around" which all achieve top positions on the singles charts in Sweden. The band has made its breakthrough. The video for "Liberation" was nominated for a Swedish Grammy and the band set off on their first tour of Europe and Japan. 2001 saw the release of the follow-up,"Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves)" with singles "Shame" and "Mother's Love". Once again the band toured in Europe and Japan and this time they also went to Canada. They hooked up with fellow Gothenburg band LOK on a single called "Staden Göteborg" (The City of Gothenburg) and performed a now classic show during the PopStad Göteborg festival. In the summer they opened for AC/DC at a packed Ullevi Stadium. The band also opened for AC/DC and Motörhead on the Italian leg of their tour due to their popularity in the area.

In the summer of 2003 the first single "Honey Tongue" was released from their third album "No Regrets" which was released in August 2003. The song entered the Swedish charts at number three. The second single from the album, "Still I'm Glad" also makes the higher reaches of the charts. In autumn 2003 and winter 2004 the band toured in Sweden, Europe and the USA. A fight broke out at the Swedish Consulate in New York between Thomas Silver and Aftonbladet journalist Fredrik Virtanen. This is a major news story back in Sweden. Upon their return from the USA the band decided to take a break indefinitely after playing non-stop for over six years. This is interpreted by some in the media that the band had split up, which was never on the cards. Back on Gain, the band regained its unique energy which was resulted in the self titled album "Hardcore Superstar". The album was given top reviews all over the world. Hardcore Superstar was Grammy nominated and number one on the Swedish hard rock charts. The album contained the four hit singles "We don't celebrate Sundays", "Wild boys", "My good reputation" and "Bag on your head". They were on all major national TV and radio shows in Sweden and toured around the world until the spring 2007. In the summer of 2007 they released the single "Bastards". The single sold gold and was on top on every chart in Sweden. At Sweden Rock Festival they opened up for the legendary Aerosmith.

My thoughts (yes, this should be short...):

I first discovered these guys when I bought their s/t CD on a whim having heard some good things about them. I was totally unprepared to be absolutely blown away like I was. This is top quality sleaze that somehow incorporates a ton of melody without watering down the attitude. I can't say enough good things about this band, if you haven't heard them you are doing yourself a disservice by not picking up either the s/t or Dreamin' in a Casket. I kid you not, this will knock you on your ass (or arse if you're from abroad). They have a few other albums before the s/t, but I would recommend not starting with those as I don't believe they had really hit their stride until the s/t.