2008
VH1 Classic
Solo albums can be a tricky item because inevitably the largest audience group that is at most likely to at least be initially drawn to it are fans of the band that this artist is from. However, for the sake of originality it doesn't prove a whole lot if the artist sounds just like the band they are known for. So we hope that they reach out a little and establish themselves and perhaps show some aspects we have not heard before. Then of course there are those times when we hear the finished product and realize perhaps the artist should not have attempted a solo album. That's how I felt after I struggled through Bret Michaels' new release. Has everyone involved with this CD just completely forgotten what rock music should really sound like? Apparently so since they let Bret go ahead and release this collection of emotionless tripe. Okay, the songs are varied from one another some which is usually a plus, but here it just comes across as different forms of weak songwriting and okay playing. Bret has toured solo a lot in recent years and his summer tours with Poison typically get reviews they are a fairly consistent live act. So those two things had me thinking maybe he had something to give here. Obviously he had nothing to give yet he went ahead and slapped together some generic, watered down tracks that lack any soul, direction or even any genuinely good moments. Even his normally decent vocals sound rather bored here like he was sitting down looking at his watch and he just punched out what was in front of him to get this over with and move on to the next money-making venture. The best thing about Poison was they could be fun, but I can't imagine who this album could be possibly be fun for because it doesn't seem to do a whole lot of anything. Bret Michaels should obviously be thankful for his success on his reality show (of which I am proud to say I never watched) and the strength of Poison as a live draw in the summer because he may not get very far if he only had to depend on material like this to provide a career for himself.
I have this one too. I think my review might say, "Ditto," and link here.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more on this one. There are a couple of songs that I liked, but far too many that I struggled to get through.
ReplyDeleteA little too much Bret does country for my tastes. He should stick with the formula that brought him success.
Their will be plenty of people who will buy this because of Rock of Love 2, and I feel for those folks.
I can't say I despised it as much as you guys, but I really didn't care for the production and then someone at my site informed me six of the songs were already done before, so a raspberry for that...I've seen some of his show thanks to my wife who's addicted to what I call "Crap TV," and I just think Bret won't ever grow up. I shook his hand from the photo pit when I covered Poison last year and he seemed like a nice guy onstage, but who's to say? Frankly, I'll take the country songs and the ballads on this thing since they're the most polished ones on it.
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