Website: Marion Raven
This girl’s got friends in high places: Marion Raven’s six-song EP Heads Will Roll contains plenty of assistance from the likes of Nikki Sixx and members of Buckcherry, Our Lady Peace, and The Exies. How many beginners get that kind of boost? Throw on top that the cover features Marion naked with her guitar on a pile of naked chicks, the album almost sells itself.
Beyond the cover, the disc itself is overflowing with poppy hard rock. Think Kelly Osbourne’s stuff but with a pissed-off Kelly Clarkson singing instead. Considering her collaborators, it’s no surprise that there’s an attempt at risque lyrics; well, relatively risque anyway, as Heads Will Roll maintains a very girly feel throughout and couldn’t be considered anything beyond PG-13.
Catchy. Hook-laden. At times it feels a bit cookie cutter, particularly on “All I Wanna Do Is You”. But then the utterly amazing “13 Days” hits and suddenly it feels like Marion Raven has some legitimacy hidden behind the manufactured, safe facade. “Good 4 Sex” isn’t a bad song (help from Desmond Child practically guarantees that), but it suffers from overproduction. In fact, that’s what’s hampering Heads Will Roll: it sounds like marketing rather than any sort of genuine. She’s cute and she rocks, which will sell some albums simply because there are teenage boys and rebellious girls in this world, but she needs a giant bucket of grit if she’s going for longevity and respect.
Again, it’s a happy, smiley, well-written collection of songs. But it would be nice if Marion Raven could be allowed an identity of her own.