ERIK GRÖNWALL – Bad Bones

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7.0

• Bands:
  ERIK GRÖNWALL
• Duration: 00:34:55
• Available from: 05/22/2026
• Label:

• Greenwall Entertainment

The history of rock is dotted with singers who, at a certain point in their career, decide they want to tell their own journey or do something absolutely personal: this is what “Bad Bones”, the first solo album by Erik Grönwall, former singer of HEAT and Skid Row, aims to do, in thirty-four minutes of light-hearted and fun hard rock, behind which however a decidedly profound meaning is hidden.
In fact, if you know Grönwall, you will know that for a few years he had to face a fight against leukemia, from which he emerged cured but profoundly changed. Just shortly after undergoing the bone marrow transplant, he joined Skid Row, from which he separated a few years later in search of another meaning in his career, for now found in accompanying Michael Shenker on his celebratory tour with UFO songs

The album is therefore a sort of story of everything the singer went through in this phase of his life: the title itself somehow recalls the illness, although telling everything with extreme irony and with that typical Swedish hard rock to which the ears of many listeners are accustomed.
Since “Born To Break” we find ourselves faced with a batch of songs that lend themselves very well to being played live and, despite not having the bombastic charge of certain records where Grönwall sang, they are pleasant and balanced between rock and more bluesy moments, as in the ballad “Who's The Winner” or in the very direct “Lost For Life”, even if the best moments are the more rhythmic songs such as the excellent “Twisted Lullaby”.
It should be noted that all the classical instruments, such as violins, were played for real and not sampled, giving the songs that contain them a more realistic and sonically three-dimensional meaning, while, as the singer himself told us in a forthcoming interview, some artists, friends and colleagues, helped the singer's golden uvula in his aim: we mention in particular Jona Tee, keyboard player of HEAT, credited for the work of writing the album.
We are faced with very simple compositions and excellent arrangements, which, although not comparable to other more ambitious albums on which the singer has worked, maintain their precise artistic direction and will make Grönwall's fans happy as an artist in his own right, perhaps putting a little more into the background the experiences with the different groups in which he sang: the final hat-trick, in particular, seems somehow emblematic in telling the story of his recovery from the illness and his climb to get his career back in motion, moving from the hard'n'heavy cadence of “Hell” and concluding with the ballad “Written in the Scars”, almost a warning from the singer towards himself.

In conclusion, “Bad Bones” is a good Swedish hard rock album, like there are many out there, well produced and played: the possibility that Grönwall had, to take care of everything down to the smallest details without any label telling him what to do (Greenwall Entertainment is his) can be felt very well, especially after a few listens, transforming this album into a kind of autobiography.
Yet, despite an indisputably good quality for music and production, the album slips away a little too easily, perhaps lacking that bit of energy, determination and inspiration necessary to make it 'stay' in the hearts (and stereos) of those who are passionate about the genre.
While waiting for a second part, we can only recommend this album to those who are already familiar with the singer and his story: if you wanted an intimate and personal story from the Swedish golden uvula, you will certainly be satisfied.