Johnny Burning-Get up, get loose, get off!
Background-The guys hailed from Italy and released this album in 2008. I reviewed this album a few years ago and after a quick search through other reviews it looks like I was one of the few people who didn't fall head over heels in love with this one. I gave it a so-so review, but the record label must not have been happy with it because they said they'd never send me another one of their albums to review. Oh, well I only told the truth. Let's give it another listen and see if my view has changed.
Influences-Motley Crue, Pretty Boy Floyd,Poison,Saraya,Great White
The good-The music isn't original. However the players are all better than usual for hair metal. Which isn't saying a whole lot, but they are clearly fairly competent at playing.
The bad-In my original review I said the singer sounded like Vince Neil on helium. That's being kind because I almost wrote he sounded like a cross between Bret Michaels and Minnie Mouse. He's kind of in tune, but way too high. Even to the point of being difficult to understand. While the music is largely alright there are definitely several filler tracks.
Final word- Musically this is an alright album, but for me the vocals kill it.
Kik Tracee- Fieldtrip
Background- Kik Tracee had released the full length "No rules" in 1991 and this EP was their 1992 follow-up. No rules received some hype, but both these albums came out as hair metal/hard rock was being swept away by other musical trends of the time. Also around this time vocalist Stephen Shareaux was in the mix to possibly replace Vince Neil in Motley Crue, but of course that job eventually went to John Corabi instead.
Influences-Saigon Kick, Guns n' Roses, Bang Tango - It could be said that Kik Tracee were doing a little more of their own thing and not totally being influenced by established bands to some extent anyways.
The good-I wasn't so hot on "No Rules". It was kind of messy to me. I heard it when it came out and ignored this EP for years. I probably didn't heard until it was almost ten years old. The writing is far tighter on this disc. This was 1992 so they were trying to get away from the typical late 80's Sunset strip sound. Overall they created a fairly likable hard rock album with a few surprises. They sound far more comfortable here than on the previous album.
The bad-A couple of their songs overstay their welcome just a little. I really think they should have cranked out four more tracks and made this a full length LP. I don't think releasing an EP at the point in their career helped them much.
The final word-This EP was better than I remembered. Far from perfect, it's a little slow but a good effort.
There you go. I will pick two more of these in another week or so.
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