This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“You cannot kill the party,” proclaims Andrew W.K. a couple of minutes into his sophomore major-label album The Wolf. So much for musical evolution.
But hey, nobody listens to Andrew W.K. for his subtlety and depth. They listen to him for his outrageous, fist-pumping anthems to hedonism, positivity and individuality. And — spoiler alert — you get another dozen of those on the 43-minute Wolf. Over a virtually interchangeable slate of arena-sized melodies and overblown rock-opera arrangements — think Jim Steinman after too many espressos — Andrew belts, bellows and barks inspirational carpe-diem ditties like Tear It Up, Make Sex, I Love Music and the self-deprecating Totally Stupid. Sure, power ballads like Never Let Down and Really In Love could be last waltzes at the sock hop, but make no mistake: Andrew W.K. is still a wild party.
