Kraddy (a.k.a. Matthew Kratz) is a New York born, Venice Beach residing former member of the Glitch Mob that has decided to combine electronica (or whatever buzzword label you're using these days) and classic rock anthems to re-define the genre and music as a whole. I assume.

Really though, Anthems is pretty boring. It's Jock Jams for a group of people who think they are above listening to a collection called Jock Jams. For this album Kraddy got himself a live drummer and guitarist, recorded them (along with the synths) and jammed all of this into Pro-Tools, which then created.... this.

Anthems of a Hero isn't horrible in any way mind you. The collection of songs are all good in the sense that they have booming bass, catchy hooks and this whole thing is a creative endeavour. The problem though is that the album comes off as soulless in a genre of music that already feels cold and outside. In interviews, Kraddy states he's using Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin as influences and where Kraddy is parting ways from the influences is that he took all the sex out of classic rock, or "cock rock." There's no swagger on "The Holy Avenger"--it just sounds like a pre-set Nine Inch Nails song. The cover of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" is so awful because what worked about the song (guitar tone) was replaced by synth.

I always like to pick out one good thing about anything I review, so I easily choose "Forbidden," featuring Erica Dee, as the standout. Dee has a great voice that flows softly over the heavy bass/synth vibe and the song really gets that "late 80's Janet Jackson serious song" vibe that a lot of people are trying to "re-discover" right now.

All in all what works about the album is it's biggest loss. You can either be a DJ or you can be in a band and not many people are able to do both.

Track List
1. The Holy Avenger
2. Black Box
3. Iron Man
4. Bare Bones
5. Operation Prometheus
6. Heart Anthem
7. The Legend
8. Forbidden (feat. Erica Dee)
9. Ill Million
10. Black Sun
11. Beacon One