Tag Archives: album reviews

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (Re-Release) by Warrant

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Warrant, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich
Original Release Date: March 1989
Re-Released: August 2004
(Columbia)

Hair Metal bands were often distinguished by singers who could actually sing, and few vocalists of that era had a set of pipes rivaling that of Jani Lane. Warrant’s debut, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich draws heavily from the members’ blues rock influences while thoroughly wallowing in pop-metal excess. The mindless pursuit of hedonism rarely sounded as beguiling as it does on the rousing “Down Boys,” while the ultra-schmaltzy ballad “Heaven” was probably the theme song of every metalhead wedding in 1989. Buttressing the excellent vocals and tight, catchy tunes are guitarist Joey Allen’s solos, which are flashy without succumbing to self-indulgent wankery. Achieving platinum sales and number-one chart status shortly before Grunge buried ‘80s Metal forever, D.R.F.S.R. closed out the final decade of Rock ‘N’ Roll decadence in high style.

– Gail Worley

Track Listing

  1. 32 Pennies
  2. Down Boys
  3. Big Talk
  4. Sometimes She Cries
  5. So Damn Pretty (Should Be Against The Law)
  6. D.R.F.S.R.
  7. In The Sticks
  8. Heaven
  9. Ridin’ High
  10. Cold Sweat
  11. Only A Man (Demo)
  12. All Night Long (Demo)

dirty rotten filthy stinking rich

This article was originally written for Metal Edge Magazine. With the magazines’ dissolution, the article has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Metal Health (Remaster) by Quiet Riot

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Quiet Riot, Metal Health
Original Release Date: March 1983
Remastered and Re-Released: August 2001
(Portrait/Epic/Legacy)

Quiet Riot’s multi-platinum debut brought the empowering declaration “Bang Your Head” into the vernacular of metal fans everywhere. While famous for its venerated, chest-thumping cover of Slade’s “Cum On Feel the Noize,” the glam classic “Slick Black Cadillac” and inspired ballad “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” revealed Quiet Riot to be about much more than just big guitar noise and epic macho posturing. Metal Health is a hard driving but relentlessly joyous collection of songs recalling a time when metal music was actually fun – and it rocks hard enough to crack a skull. Successfully connecting the attributes of commercial rock with the sonic muscle of heavy metal, its history as the first metal album to reach #1 on the Billboard charts says it all.

Track Listing:
1. Metal Health
2. Cum On Feel The Noize
3. Don’t Wanna Let You Go
4. Slick Black Cadillac
5. Love’s A Bitch
6. Breathless
7. Run For Cover
8. Battle Axe
9. Let’s Get Crazy
10. Thunderbird
11. Danger Zone
12. Slick Black Cadillac (live)

Official Website: https://quietriot.band

Metal Health Quiet Riot Cover Art

This article was originally written for Metal Edge Magazine. With the magazines’ dissolution, the article has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Supernatural Equinox by Outrageous Cherry

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Outragous Cherry CD Cover

Artist: Outrageous Cherry
Album: Supernatural Equinox
Release Date: May 6, 2003
Label: Rainbow Quartz

On its fifth album, Detroit’s Outrageous Cherry pull together a tight concatenation of influences; mingling old-school acid eaters (Stones, Byrds, Beatles) with modern genre revivalists (Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre) to wrap their signature noise-pop in a distinctive psychedelic overcoat. There’s a well-balanced, seductive ethereality to Supernatural Equinox that’s hard to resist. On the sunnier, Beach Boys-influenced tunes like “If You Want Me” and “Saturday Afternoon,” vocalist/songwriter Matthew Smith simultaneously pays homage to and parodies the 60’s with lyrics like, “It’s 1970 now/Flower Power is dead.” On the flip-side, OC doses the listener with the intense, acid-prog of “Psychic Wheels” (think BRMC) and a ferocious wah-wah pedal attack courtesy of “The Orgone Vortex.” Supernatural Equinox peaks out with “See You Next Time,” a raga-flavored, extended jam punctuated by processed backing vocals borrowed from Their Satanic Majesty’s Request. Turn on, tune in, trip out.

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outrageouscherrydetroit/
Official Website: http://www.outrageouscherry.com/

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: 2 a.m. Wakeup Call by Tweaker

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Tweaker 2 AM Wake Up Call CD Cover

Artist: Tweaker
Album: 2 am Wakeup Call
Release Date: April 20, 2004
Label: Waxploitation

2 a.m. Wakeup Call is the second album from Tweaker (producer, remixer, ex-NIN drummer Chris Vrenna), following 2001’s The Attraction To All Things Uncertain. Continuing Vrenna’s fondness for conceptual works, 2 a.m. is a journey through nightmares, sleeplessness and a variety of nocturnal disturbances. Warm tones of piano and acoustic guitar moderate the expected electronic flourishes, taking the chill off songs exploring insomnia-inducing subjects like deep depression (“Worse Than Yesterday”), the manic mind (“Pure Genius”) and somnambulism (“Sleepwalking Away”). Framing Vrenna as a modern Burt Bacharach, 2 a.m. finds the composer crafting tunes for interpretation by other voices, though Vrenna had guest vocalists (including David Sylvian, Robert Smith and Will Oldham) write their unique lyrical visions for his mini-soundtracks. The results are surprisingly seductive. From the stark “Nights In White Satin” vibe of “Ruby” to Jennifer Charles’ opiated, candy floss croon on “Crude Sunlight,” Tweaker’s disquieting lullabies for troubled slumber provide uneasy listening at its finest.

Official Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweaker_(band)

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Dirt by Mark Selby

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Mark Selby Dirt CD Cover

Artist: Mark Selby
Album: Dirt
Release Date: 2003
Label: Vanguard Records

After gaining notoriety for penning hits recorded by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (“Blue on Black”) and the Dixie Chicks, singer/songwriter/ guitarist Mark Selby earned his moment in the spotlight with the release of his own critically lauded, 2000 debut, More Storms Comin’. His exceptional sophomore CD, Dirt indicates that album was not just a fluke. Many of Selby’s songs (some co-written with his wife, Tia Sillers) give vibrant life to romantic ruminations he keeps in his head, (“Willing to Burn, ” “Desire”). Favorable comparisons to Gregg Allman permeate this disc, not only in regard to Selby’s lyrical blues-rock guitar playing, but also his visual songwriting and slightly rough-hewn but engaging vocals — especially appealing on the lead track, “Reason Enough.” Excellent flanged guitar adds a hypnotic undercurrent to the gorgeous title track, but never detracts from the song’s true grit. No need for bells or whistles here: the music does all the talking.

Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/MarkSelbyRocks/

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.