Five Records That Changed My Life, Part 76: Dregen
Swedish guitarist and vocalist Dregen first made a name for himself with Backyard Babies. Then he co-founded The Hellacopters and later joined Michael Monroe’s band. He has also been recording and touring as a solo artist and has collaborated with many other artists. Roppongi Rocks’ Stefan Nilsson checked in with Dregen to find out about the five albums that shaped this bad to the bone rock star.
KISS “Alive!” (1975)
“There could potentially be more KISS records among this top 5 list, but if I had to choose just one, I’d pick ‘Alive!’ It totally blew me away. I dug the three first albums, but here are the same great songs with a turbo engine as well. I also love the sound and production of ‘Alive!’. It’s sonic and unpolished.”
Sex Pistols “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” (1977)
“I got this album from my mom as a ‘bribe’ for helping her with cleaning the house. It blew me away. It still does today. The songs and the timeless production. It still, over 40 years later, sounds so good and not dated. The extra bonus was that you have to wear sunglasses just by looking at the cover.”
The Ramones “It’s Alive” (1979)
“I’m such a sucker for great live albums. And great bands.”
Demolition 23 “Demolition 23” (1994)
“Such an underrated album by Michael Monroe and Sami Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks. Nasty Suicide was in the band too, but not on the record. Great songwriting and simple, but genius production by Little Steven. Demolition 23 was Backyard Babies’ first real support tour so this album brings up a lot of great memories.”
Bob Dylan “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (1963)
“Can still not understand how Mr. Zimmerman, at the age of 21, could pull off and write such a song and lyrics as ‘Masters of War’. The album also includes evergreens like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, ‘Girl from the North Country’ and ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’. I’ll leave it right there.”
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