Performocracy

Performocracy, released on 15 April 2011, is the fourth album, on which The Poodles built hard rock with a Nordic polish from big choruses, melodic guitar and glamorous keyboards. It follows the partnership struck with Frontiers the previous August and the November release of the live album No Quarter and the documentary In the Flesh. It went to No. 1 on the Swedish album chart in its first week — the band's highest placing. The songs are catchy, but the riffs and rhythms carry enough weight. It presses forward from the start through “Until Our Kingdom Falls” and “Father to a Son,” across the single “Cuts Like a Knife” and the driving “Action!,” to the quiet close of “Into the Quiet Night” — a wide range. Jakob Samuel's powerful vocal pulls the centre of each song, and the choruses land in one listen. Henrik Bergqvist, Pontus Egberg and Christian Lundqvist are steady behind him, and this line-up would hold for several years. A record that balances pop approachability with metal drive.