by Vincent Jeffries

Change of Address is plainly one of the worst efforts from Swiss metal band Krokus. After the loud and energetic outfit had their single mega-hit years earlier with Headhunter, a not-so-gradual creative decline ensued that perhaps culminated (but didn't end) with the release of this limp recording. Artists like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were re-categorizing metal during the mid-'80s, as the genre suddenly gained a huge mainstream audience thereby creating a commercial opportunity that caused many so-so metal acts to abandon their heavier musical roots. The resulting power-chord pop on records like Change of Address was consistently cliché and worthless. There is hardly any point in describing songs with titles like "Hard Luck Hero" and "Burning Up the Night," but they are, of course, laughably dopey and not at all ironic. People who appreciate hard rock and metal from this era's master practitioners (Iron Maiden and Judas Priest most notably) can hardly stomach records like Change of Address, as these sickly offerings had a very destructive influence on heavy metal/hard rock.