Hair metal hodge podge

So the rules on this are I have these bags of hair metal discs and I reach in without looking, pull out two, listen to them and give some mini-reflections on them. After all it's hair metal they don't deserve that much time. It's not like 90% of the bands that did these albums put much thought or effort into their writing or recording. Here we go...


Warrant-Born Again
Curse my hands, I picked a Warrant disc. This disc got some praise back when it came out and that's why I bought it. It was supposed to be heavier and Jaime St James formerly of Black -n- Blue was brought in to replace Janie Lane on vocals. Warrant were terrible on their early albums, one of the worst hair metal acts during the time when lame hair metal bands were all the fashion. They were lame, dull and showed how bad hard rock could be. Now in 1992 they attempted to be heavier with their "Dog eat dog" album. It was a little heavier, but the results were like instead of a pile a poop it was a pile of poop with one rose petal laying on top. Anyways "Born again" was supposed to be heavier than this band had ever been, for whatever that was worth. It was...to an extent. Almost every song started out well, but only a few of them kept the momentum going. Not being heavy was always a problem with this band, but so was the lack of solid songwriting which still plagued this album. Although overall they tried, I hear that and on a few moments they managed to put together some fair pieces. Now on to the vocals. Janie Lane always struck me as a very dull vocalist. I liked Jaime St. James in Black -n- Blue, but here it sounds like his voice is burnt out and fried. The excitement he once had in his voice has been replaced by a dry sound and he's seems to straining to achieve even that level. So the vocal change was not a plus, but the music showed some promise. Yes, this was definitely an improvement for Warrant, but still not an album anyone should run after.


Uzi Suite-s/t
Here are the facts that I know about this album-it has four songs, the band was from Texas, it was recorded in 1990 and issued on CD by Retrospect in 2005. That's it, all I know for sure. No band members are listed on the inlay card, I don't know if it was originally a self-released album or just a demo. However beyond that I do know that is album is pretty darn good. The sound is mid-80's hard rock with a touch of metal (despite being released in 1990) along the lines of early Keel, Dokken and Icon. The vocalist was limited, but got the job done. The guitars are solid and plentiful and the rhythm section was above average  for this style. Even their ballad is solid although it's like a mid-80's ballad and not the shallow sappy ballads that were so big in the late 80's/early 90's. I bought this probably when it came out and liked it, but now it sounds even better to my ears than it did back then. This album was so good it could have made it on our Forgotten Gems segment. Except that I hesitated to do that just because I don't know much about this band. Definitely check this album out if you get a chance and if anyone knows more about them then feel free speak up and enlighten us.

There you go, I'll do another segment of this some time soon.

Liberty n' Justice-Light it up

Retroactive
2010

Bass player/songwriter returns with a variety of supporting musicians to help him with his Christian hard rock album including current/former members of Def Leppard, Warrant, Stryper, Dokken, Firehouse, LA Guns and others. However one listen has me thinking of the Love Boat. You get a hodge podge of people that all did something kind of known in the past, but here they are kind of thrown together with so-so writing and not much direction. That's how much of this plays out. I read the credits to see who was coming next, but even normally good performers like Phil Lewis and Robert Mason sound less than inspired. I can't blame too much because most of the material is about as drab as it gets with plenty of warmed over riffs too. Many of the tracks are bland and they manage to seem twice as long as they really are. Out of fourteen tracks there were only two real standouts. The surprise one was "Wrestling with God" with Pete Loran and Steve Brown of Trixter plus Bumblefoot from G-n-R. Nothing wrong with Bumblefoot, but Trixter were one of the absolute worst abominations to unleash their no-talent, hair-sprayed selves on the hard rock world. However here they are part of a fairly catchy song with some striking hooks. Not bad at all. Now before I even removed this disc from it's sleeve I knew the song I was most interested in was "Drunk Dead Gorgeous" Marq Torien of the Bulletboys and Chris Holmes formerly of WASP. My interest was due to the fact that I am a huge WASP fan. Not that Holmes was ever great, but he was good and he played on most of WASP's best albums. He doesn't disappoint here either as the rhythms sound similar to WASP around the time of say "Inside the electric circus". However it's Torien who really sells this song. It's not the best written song, but he gets in there with voice, elevates the energy level and pulls everything he can from it. Fine track and performances indeed. Not a good album at all, but it was worth a listen just for that one song.

Lesser of two evils

The worst thing about committing to writing one of these is that I actually have to listen to these albums and it was a real task this time. It's like volunteering to go into the sewer and then once you are there you realize just how much shit is around you. One album was every bit as bad as I remembered it being and the other was even worse. I swear the second album I am referring to felt like it went on three hours instead of the under 50 minutes that it really lasted. Anyways here are two crown princesses of rotten hard rock. It is..

Poison-Flesh and Blood (1990)

vs.

Warrant-Dog eat dog (1992)

This is Warrant's third trip here and they are currently 1-1. This is the beginning of my forth year of writing this column and it's most surprising that this Poison's first trip here. I mean Judas Priest have been here twice and even the mighty Iron Maiden have been here once, but one of the poofiest, lightest, sappiest hair bands of their time are now just getting here for the first time. Well they have waited long enough so let's tear into these heartless mounds of syrupy pulp and see what we have.

Vocals-Poison's Bret Michaels takes on Warrant's Jani Lane. If there was one bright spot to CC Deville era Poison it was Michael's voice and that definitely says something about this band as a unit. Michael's best days were on the debut and like the rest of the band he got worse as he went along. So by this album he was going through the motions to an extent, but he had a few moments where he steps up and does alright. If you look up bland in the dictionary there should be a picture of Jani Lane. I don't care if it's young skinny Jani Lani or old, fat bloated, drunken Jani Lane. Either way he still had the presence of a wet sponge and that's comes across on this recording. I hear his hollow voice come on and I immediately think "blech". That should say it all.

Point to Poison

Guitars-CC Deville is on for Poison and he goes against the Warrant pair of Joey Allen and Erik Turner. Now my usual comment would be to say that Deville might already be outmatched by it being a 2-1 scenario. Then again Deville's musical skills may be outmatched by a ten year old plucking on a rubber band, but it's the Warrant duo he has worry about this time. This whole Poison album is toned down from what wasn't a very solid foundation to begin with, but the whole guitar tone is barely present. Of course some solid riffing might help, but CC was always known for his hair and being an idiot more than his playing. This performance certainly re-enforces the above statement. The Warrant duo were riding two albums worth of grabage going into this album. While they do not end their streak of being incompetent they do get a solid "D" for effort. There are a few seconds here and there where they try to sound like a hard rock band. They don't succeed, but I hear the effort.

Point to Warrant

Rhythm section-Poison has Rikki Rocket on drums and Bobby Dall on bass going up against drummer Steven Sweet and bassist Dixon. As if the guitarists were not weak enough it's like rhythm sections for many of the hair bands of the days were all the same which is to say the drums are routine and boring while the bass is almost nonexistent. Both these sets certainly fit that mold. The rhythm sections for both bands just stand back and add nothing. The drums are soft and the bass might even be weaker for both bands. Neither set helped themselves, their band or their albumas. I guess they saved wear and tear on their instruments by doing next to nothing though.

Tie

Originality/production-By this point Poison were becoming more watered down than ever. I guess they still sounded like themselves for whatever that's worth, but they seemed to be laying back even more. Warrant never did much to create any sound that was worth hearing by anyone with any taste whatsoever. This time around they were trying to heavy up their sound and image. You can tell because they all wore black and put on their serious faces. Heck, I think some of them even crosses their arms or put their hands on their hips in the band picture to really show they meant business. The sound here is in places an attempt to be heavier and I guess get beyond where they were. I suspect the motivation had a lot to do with the fact grunge's increasing popularity so the band and their label likely thought tryiong to be heavier may help. It didn't. The production on Poison sounds like layers of gloss have been tossed on everything like too much bubble wrap trying to protect something fragile. The production on Warrant is adequate. They wanted this album to be more of a hard rock album so it's slightly crunchier. There isn't much there to push to the forefront, but the attempt is there and the production is consistant.

Who rocks more?

Maybe being able to rock is a relative term in that to rock you need to be able to play your instruments. That kind of lowers the chances that these bands could rock. Stinking less than the other band should win you a category if the stench is so bad to take. Thus I do something I have never done and award two ties in one match-up. I hate to, but after listening to these discs (twice no less) I feel it's the right thing to do.

Tie

So Warrant take it 2-1-2 in a match-up that ripped at my eardrums and sucked at my soul as I trudged through these two containers of mess. In my opinion both bands played parts in bringing about the end of hard rock becuase neither presented enough real talent to have any real staying power. However in some ways it may have been to have that time in the early 90's as to some extent it served as a musical enima that cleared out a lot of the shit. Unfortunately many fans of those bands now have more money so these hair bands keep coming back every summer to tour and get money from 35 plus year old people who wish it was still 1990.

***Be back with another one next week and it may even be done with a guest co-writer.

This could be referred to as my Rocklahoma edition of Lesser of two evils since both bands are on the bill for this year's festival (as are a lot of other acts who have been on this feature of mine). Perhaps it could be the $2 version of Lesser of two evils since I paid a whole dollar each for these CDs. Maybe it's the Lesser of evil for return visitors as Warrrant become the first band to be featured in a second contest and Nelson drummer Bobby Rock is here for the third time since both Nitro and Vinnie Vincent Invasion have been on here before. Well, whatever the case we have...



Nelson-After the rain

vs.

Warrant-Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich

Those Nelson boys seemed to come out of nowhere and assault good taste by being played so often on the radio back in 1990. They seemed to be kind of sissy music to me back then. I had not heard this album for at least 18 years. My first exposure to Warrant was seeing the video for "Down Boys" on Headbanger's Ball in 1989. My reaction was something "what is this shit and who is the idiot that gave these losers a record contract?". I think that is still my general reaction twenty years later. While thrash was still going and the death metal scene was on the rise, the hard rock scene around 89-91 seemed to be getting softer and fluffier. The bands may have had long hair, but this was marshmallow pop with a few guitar solos plugged in to make seem like hard rock. These guys made Poison sound like a real band if you can imagine that. It's no wonder these acts would get wiped off the map by grunge. So lets get the fire started and roast these weenies.

Vocals

Both Matthew and Gunnar Nelson are up for the band named after them and they are taking on Jani Lane of Warrant. The Nelsons looked like they spent all their time fixing their hair, but they actually had some okay voices. Not overwhelming and certainly not terribly exciting, but they could carry a tune. Some of the melodies were catchy although others were sappy and generic. Jani Lane might be one of the least charismatic singers of all time. I have such a hard time with Warrant because Lane was such a dull singer who manages to suck the life out of whatever comes out of his mouth. It's not so much that he isn't in tune, it's that he cannot conjure up any real energy or passion or anything that would make me care.

Point to Nelson

Guitars

Brett Garsed and both Nelsons contributed for their side while Joey Allen and Erik Turner handled duties for Warrant. Both bands seem to be all too happy to keep the guitars down low and have a syrupy sound prevail. If any heavy moments emerge, they are quickly overwhelmed by keyboards and/or vocals. What guitar rhythms are here were old and dry even by 1989-90 standards. They go through the motions for much of these songs likely posing with their instruments more than playing them. The only difference I could make out between the two bands was that there were a couple of slightly above average solos from the Nelson camp so...

Point to Nelson

Rhythm section

Matthew Nelson handled bass and Bobby Rock handled drums for Nelson while we have Jerry Dixon on bass and Steven Sweet on drums for Warrant. If the guitars were down on these albums then the rhythm sections were practicly drowned out altogether. Hard rock in the late 80's-early 90's was a low point for rhythm sections as they only seemed to exist in the credits of the insert. The bass is almost non-existent and the drums could have been done by chimpanzees smacking on trash cans for all of the emotion and energy displayed here. Only the production was able to allow me to make a decision here. Bobby Rock's drum sound stands out just a little more and it took me two excruciating listens to realize that. If his drum sound had been as big as his hair then the decision may have been even easier to make.

Point to Nelson

Originality/production

There are a few moments where Warrant sound a little like Poison if you really listen down below the layers of gloss. On other songs they actually do have their own sound. It's a sound that should have never been copied and largely is wasn't. Nelson sound like Bon Jovi on a few songs and on other tracks they just sound like rather generic AOR/hard rock. The production on Warrant is full of shiny polish and not a whole lot else. I tried adjusting the settings on my stereo to try and hear there was much else down below the surface on Warrant. Really there isn't, but the production doesn't help them to sound like a rock band. The production on Nelson is okay, but it does manage to enhance some melodies without burying anything.

Point to Nelson

Who rocks more?

I think Warrant were the first band that had me thinking hard rock was dying. They were all show and the music was some of the most shallow pulp to ever creep into my ears and that was just their debut. As I said above, the production didn't help them to sound like a rock band either. By 89-90 for every band like G-n-R or Faster Pussycat you had 2-3 bands like Warrant. Which should tell you why this stuff died out shortly after that. Nelson are actually better than I remember. Not good mind you, but not as sappy overall as I remembered them being. They hit a few slightly decent moments. I guess the real deciding force here is that I made it through Nelson without shaking my head and sighing. I couldn't say the same thing about listening to Warrant.

Point to Nelson.

I thought it would be closer, but Nelson were better than I remembered and Warrant were exactly as I remember them. If I ever miss music from the late 80's-early 90's then I can just put Warrant on and realize that I don't miss all of the music from back then. So there you have it. I'll be back in a few weeks with another match-up.

Unfortunately named

While writing about Canada's Slaughter the other day I began thinking about how they had to watch a hair band with the same name get some popularity and inevitabley cause some confusion. Now Canada's Slaughter were actually going by Strappada by the time the hair band released their debut. However they still probably had some confusion and may have even gotten teased. Another band in a similar situation is the far more obscure Warrant from Germany who knocked out an EP called First Strike and an LP The Enforcer both in the mid-1980's. I have never heard this band, but have heard them described as an early speed metal band. Now granted the German band released their albums several years before the hair band, but this could cause confusion even today. Somehow I envision a member of the German Warrant now in his late 40's browsing in a local record store. He sees a young metalhead wearing a Kreator shirt and can't help but try to talk about his past. Perhaps the conversation would go something like this.

Warrant Guy: Cool shirt.
Metal Dude: Thanks

Warrant Guy: I used to be in a metal band.
Metal Dude: Really, which one?

Warrant Guy: Warrant
Metal Dude: EWWWWW

Warrant Guy: No, no, not that Warrant.
Metal Dude: I think I am ready to leave.

Warrant Guy: I was in Warrant the metal band!
Metal Dude: Uh, yeah, Cherry Pie, real thrashin' stuff, Grandpa.

Warrant Guy: No, wait, come back I really was in a cool band!
Metal Dude: Get, away from me you nut. Why don't you go where the Down Boys go and stay there! (as he heads towards the exit)

***See how much trouble this could cause?

Saints of the underground-Love the sin, hate the sinner

Warrior
2008

I’ll don’t like Warrant, I never have and I doubt that I ever will. Whew, I am glad to get that off my chest so I can start this review. Now I have liked Warrant and I always Jani Lane was a particularly bland vocalist. Yet I never knew if he himself was bland or if it was just the material. When I saw this “supergroup” of sorts coming out with a release I decided to give it a shot. Joining the Warrant frontman are Ratt members drummer Bobby Blotzer, bassist Robbie Crane and Keri Kelli (of Alice Cooper’s band and others). My thoughts before playing this were that Lane was either going to sink it with some lifeless vocals or he was going to rise to a level he had never previously achieved and carry this album with him. Actually it’s not 100% either of those choices, but most surprisingly this album leans towards that second category. Like a number of other 80’s hard rock singers (Joe LeSte, Jamie St. James) Jani Lane’s voice has gotten deeper with age. However unlike those other guys it seems to have helped Mr. Lane form some much needed grit in his vocal delivery instead of the syrupy approach he used far in the late 80's-early 90's. In addition to the tone of voice Jani also seems much more comfortable with the material than he did back he going on about cherry pies and wherever it was that the Down Boys were going to. The music is hard rock with some power pop and plain rock undertones and on several tracks they remind me of Cheap Trick. I think the fact that the two guys in the rhythm section have played together for about a decade is obvious in the sound and it’s a major plus. I also was greatly relieved that they avoided the overdone, sickeningly repetitive choruses that so much defined Warrant. Now the tracks aren’t anything new by any stretch of anyone’s imagination, but they are decent and everyone involved sounds comfortable. My initial guess on this project was that it would be a real dud like Contraband (anyone remember them?). However perhaps it’s experience or perhaps it’s the fact that they are doing songs they like instead of doing strictly to try and land a hit single, no matter what the motivation this is a decent album. There are two cover songs with as they deliver a solid version of Tom Petty's American Girl which is a fine fit for Jani's voice. They also cover the Stones' Moonlight Mile, but they seem a little more hesitant to put their own brand on it and it's just alright as a result. Some of the best tracks were "Exit", "Dead Man's Shoes" and the very Thin Lizzy-esque Jimmy. This album doesn't change the history of those involved, but unlike a number of other 80's hard rockers everyone involved here can claim to have been part of a pretty good album.

http://www.myspace.com/saintsoftheunderground