Rough Cutt-s/t and Wants You
Rough Cutt were an LA band with some ties to Ratt. Three of the members were in an early version of Ratt along with Stephen Pearcy and Jake E. Lee (Ozzy, Badlands). Ratt went through changes and the ex-members recruited new members and became Rough Cutt. I guess those three guys were intent on being in two bands that couldn't spell. This CD was released last year on Wounded Bird records (great name) and it has the band's two studio albums on it. They were previously only available on CD as Japanese imports and they fetched high prices on eBay. Well this two on one CD cost me a whole $13.00, thank goodness for re-releases. Rough Cutt were managed by Wendy Dio and because of this they got some major openings for Dio. However their second album failed to hit and Warner Brothers dropped them and Wendy Dio dropped them soon after.
I know, cut to the chase and tell if they any good or not. They are definitely commercial metal and fairly dated, but they don't pretend to be anything more than that either. Rough Cutt don't exactly sound like any other band I can think of, but they are generally on the same heaviness level of Dokken. The first album is a shade heavier and I prefer it. Titles such as "Dressed to kill", "She's too hott" and "Kids will rock" make one think that the music had better be good to make up for the lyrics. And it is for the most part, they may not be terribly overwhelming, but they are solid, competent musicians. I would like to have heard a few more hooks here and there, but that's okay. Vocalist Paul Shortino is the real stand out here as he has a good raw rock voice and the songs make good use of this. The second album Wants you is more of a mixed bag. You can tell they were hoping to score some radio play as there are some more "radio friendly" tracks here. I remember "You wanna be a star" getting some airplay around here on some of the metal radio shows. The second album is good, but you can tell why Rough Cutt never caught on. They just were not quite memorable enough for the masses. The first album came out in 1985 and the second album followed a year later. If you like Dokken, Ratt and other LA hair bands of the mid-80's then it's a good chance you might like these guys. Twenty tracks that clock in just shy of 80 minutes for $13.00 is a fair bargain as well. I have some other CD's of lesser known 80's hair bands that I may reviewing some time soon. These include Blacklace, Icon, Law and Order and others.
I know, cut to the chase and tell if they any good or not. They are definitely commercial metal and fairly dated, but they don't pretend to be anything more than that either. Rough Cutt don't exactly sound like any other band I can think of, but they are generally on the same heaviness level of Dokken. The first album is a shade heavier and I prefer it. Titles such as "Dressed to kill", "She's too hott" and "Kids will rock" make one think that the music had better be good to make up for the lyrics. And it is for the most part, they may not be terribly overwhelming, but they are solid, competent musicians. I would like to have heard a few more hooks here and there, but that's okay. Vocalist Paul Shortino is the real stand out here as he has a good raw rock voice and the songs make good use of this. The second album Wants you is more of a mixed bag. You can tell they were hoping to score some radio play as there are some more "radio friendly" tracks here. I remember "You wanna be a star" getting some airplay around here on some of the metal radio shows. The second album is good, but you can tell why Rough Cutt never caught on. They just were not quite memorable enough for the masses. The first album came out in 1985 and the second album followed a year later. If you like Dokken, Ratt and other LA hair bands of the mid-80's then it's a good chance you might like these guys. Twenty tracks that clock in just shy of 80 minutes for $13.00 is a fair bargain as well. I have some other CD's of lesser known 80's hair bands that I may reviewing some time soon. These include Blacklace, Icon, Law and Order and others.
posted by Metal Mark at
12:02 PM
9 Comments:
Is there any info on why these guys were into the whole double t thing?
Fuzzbox- No, I never heard anything about that. The first album included She's too hott and Cutt your heart out. The bass player's name was Matt Thorr so maybe it was a double letter thing. They had a track on the second album called Double Trouble. Perhaps it's a general bad speller's theme as Paul Shortino later ended in a band called Bad Boyz.
I saw Rough Cutt open for Dio. They got booed off the stage. I didn't really care for them, but I've seen worse.
T-bone: I could see that happening because they are way lighter than Dio. Sometimes too much of a difference in style can be hard on an opener. I saw Helloween open for Anthrax and they were great, but I was one of maybe ten people in the arena that thought so. I knew someone that saw Yngwie Malmsteen open for AC/DC and said he got booed off stage.
How could Yngvie get booed off the stage? I don't understand that..
Bruce- I would think that the typical AC/DC crowd would not be in to his kind of music. AC/DC are about as basic as it gets and Yngwie's music revolves so much around solos and tends to be quite a bit more involved.
Thanks for the info! I remember listening to some Rough Cutt YEARS ago with a buddy of mine ... and being disappointed a few years back when I tried to get it on CD. Now I can relive those memories--you are my hero today.
-- david
As I recall, Paul Shortino ended up taking Kevin Dubrow's place in Quiet Riot, didn't he?
-- david
David- I am glad someone besides me liked them. Paul Shortino did end up in Quiet Riot on their QR album which I think was 89. I never heard it, but heard it was decent although it bombed and the band broke up. There is also an album called Rough Cutt Live that I have not heard, but I have heard that it is weak. It was recorded in 86, but apparently is of poor quality. It also has three new tracks recorded during a brief reunion in 98 and everyone says they sound like poor man's grunge.
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