Nova (©2002 Lion Music)

1: Barelona Nieve (Bonus Track) 2: That's When I Fell 3: Aphasia 4: Crystal BaDJi 5: The African Prince 6: Dreams 7: Haunt Me Tonight 8: Prarie Blue 9: Gave Love A Try 10: Nova 11: Cancel April 12: Don't Call My Name (Bonus Track)

Bruce Gaitsch is a great player who has backed a number of artists; mostly notably Richard Marx in recent years, as well as providing the chops on Fee Waybill’s last solo album.

I really had no idea what to expect when I got this. I figured it would be guitar focused and be a tasty mix of fret wizardry and riffs (yeah, I know that’s a lame sentence, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice).

The first couple of times through I wasn’t sure what to make of this … it was a hodgepodge of styles, many instrumental, some featuring guest vocals from Bill Champlin and Richard Marx. Janey Clewer provides backing vocals on a couple of the instrumental tracks as well. The Bill Champlin song "Aphasia" I don’t care for at all, and the Richard Marx song is well, a Richard Marx song.

This is a vanity project, and Bruce has more hits here than misses. In fact it’s really started growing on me. I am partial to the instrumental pieces, Bruce is a gifted player, and no doubt it was fun for him to step up and call the shots. In all it displays varios degrees of heat, but doesn't really ingnite (that was my clever reference to Nova. Get it? Ha ha ha - cough, maybe next time).

Reviewed August 4, 2005

The Way We Walk Volume One: The Shorts (©1992 Atlantic)

Tracks: Land Of Confusion / No Son Of Mine / Jesus He Knows Me / Throwing It All Away / I Can't Dance / Mama / Hold On My Heart / That's All / In Too Deep / Tonight, Tonight, Tonight / Invisible Touch

As a late comer to Genesis, I'm not hung up on the lack of songs from the Gabriel and Hackett era. I didn't buy an album by the boys until 1983 and by that time the trio of Rutherford, Collins, and Banks was the only Genesis in my collection. As you'd expect this live effort more or less concentrates on the commercial era of the band.

On the live front the band features Daryl Stuermer on guitar, and Chester Thompson on drums. The versions are just different enough to warrant buying this one. Although it is pretty polished sounding, so who knows how much time was spent grooming this one in the studio, but these guys are solid musicians so I'm betting that the concert sounded pretty good.

I'm glad they did Mama, this was the song that first got me into the band, cute and cuddly Phil is creepy on this one. I love it.

Reviewed March 2003

The Way We Walk Volume One: The Longs (©1993 Atlantic)

Tracks: Old Medley: Dance On A Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box, Firth of Fifth, I Know What I Like / Driving The Last Spike / Domino: Part 1, In the Glow of the Night, Part 2, The Last Domino / Fading Lights / Home By The Sea, Second Home by the Sea / Drum Duet

The companion piece to "The Shorts" this one draws heavily on Genesis' prog rock past, and it's a feast for the ears. The boys are having a lot of fun, and "The Longs" serve notice that the guys haven't forgotten their roots.

Not being overly familiar with their older stuff helps in this case, as the songs are new to me, and with a couple of exceptions I really like this one. The showcase for me, and the reason I bought the album was to hear the live version of Home By The Sea, a song I really liked a number of years ago, and it gets good treatment here.

The drum duet at the end is fun, and is probably more fun to see than to listen to. Even though this is a decent album it was a shameless cash grab by Atlantic, as this really should have been a double live set.

Reviewed March 2003

III (©2001 Frontiers)

1: Combustion 2: You Will Be Mine 3: Over You 4: Don't Leave Me In Love 5: Love Can't Help You now 6: The Sky Is The Limit 7: It's Not The End Of The World 8: Oh Yeah 9: Can't Let Go 10: Bad Case Of Loving You

Giant was a band who very nearly hit it big in the early 1990’s. Sadly timing was everything, and a non-hair metal polished hard melodic rock band would soon be as popular as stirrup pants. After 1992’s Time to Burn the band had run it’s course. Of course, nothing ever stays dead for long. Despite their relatively short shelf life, the band garnered a pretty solid base that always wondered if there was more left in the old dog.

The album came out five years ago, and I got it as soon as it came out. I played it a lot, and then it got lost on my desk, and over the years, as I’d move one pile to another it would pop up, get played, and then again lost. I found it again, obviously, and thought the time was nigh to write this one up so it could get filed properly before losing it again.

With Dann on guitars and vocals, and David on drums, Giant was a player’s band. Dann Huff known widely for his session prowess also had a huge voice. At times he’s reminiscent of Mike Reno, which isn’t a bad thing.

A few of the songs were probably leftovers from the early 90’s and were produced Terry Thomas. The rest I would guess were a bunch of songs that were at various stages of completion and remained in the vaults until they were taken out and polished up.

These aren’t the runts and ugly ducklings you’d expect to find from a collection of found stuff. This is serious “A” list material, and yes it does sound like melodic rock – that’s because IT IS MELODIC ROCK! All of the songs push the big buttons you’d hope would be pushed.

Big guitars: check
Bombastic drums: check
Big vocals: check
Cheesy rock ballad: check

The only song that doesn’t work is the goofy (I didn't want to say horrible, but it is) version of the old Moon Martin classic, “Bad Case of Loving You” which has been sped up to idiotic proportions. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.

This is an unabashed rock and roll fest. Put this on and pretend that Nirvana and grunge never happened, and that Giant released their third album in the mid 1990’s and took the world by storm.

It’s one of those great guilty pleasures. Frontiers is one of those great indie labels (from Italy yet!) that is keeping rock and roll alive thank you very much.

Reviewed May 8, 2006

About Face (©1984)

1: Until We Sleep 2: Murder 3: Love On The Air 4: Blue Light 5: Out Of The Blue 6: All Lovers Are Deranged 7: You Know I'm Right 8: Cruise 9: Let's Get Metaphysical 10: Near The End

Back in 1984, there was no question to me over who was better: Roger Waters or David Gilmour. It was Dave all the way. Yeah, Roger was the better lyricist - but if I had to choose who kicked ass in '84 Dave did some serious arse whoopin'.

About Face for me is Dave's high water mark - he was stepping out of the shadow of Floyd and was announcing his arrival as a solo artist. Sadly no one really paid attention. Which is too bad, as this was a killer album. It still sounds great, and sure parts of it are a bit dated, but not embarrassingly so.

The song that intrigued me all those years ago was "Murder" with the great fretless work and Dave's distinctive guitar work. It on the strength of this one song that I picked up the album and was glad I did. For many years I played this one. There's a haunting ballads "Out of the Blue" which is vintage Gilmour (dare I say it - it's a Pink Floyd song?), some great rock songs "Until We Sleep" and "All Lovers are Deranged" with a driving beat that always reminded me of "Run Like Hell". Then there's "Cruise" which is just a great pop song. However, the one song that stands above all the rest for me is the album's closer: "Near the End". This to me is one of the best songs Dave's ever written. It has it all, and features a guitar solo that still gives me chills. The way Dave morphs the double tracked acoustic solo to the bell tones of his strat is absolutely beautiful.

For an album that was supposed to be an about face, Dave really didn't stray all that far from what he knew best.

Reviewed February 27, 2008

On An Island (©2006 Columbia)

1: Castellorizon 2: On An Island 3: The Blue 4: Take A Breath 5: Red Sky At Night 6: This Heaven 7: Then I Close My Eyes 8: Smile 9: A Pocketful Of Stones 10: Where We Start

I find myself at odds with this album. I wanted to like it; I wanted to like it a lot. After the first cursory listen I was left dumbfounded. It was a paint by numbers Pink Floyd lite exercise in 51 minutes and 44 seconds of how to make a boring album. Oh sure Dave’s voice is still in fine form, and his chiming strat pulls off occasional string bending moments of glory, but it seems tired, as if he released this to shut up the people who kept bugging him for an album.

At this point in his life Mister Gilmour could rest comfortably numb on his massive laurels. In fact his name is practically synonymous with Floyd and his artistic nemesis Roger Waters. It’s pretty much impossible to mention one without bring in the other. So 22 years after his brilliant 1984 release About Face, he resurfaces with the lazy On An Island.

The man has paid his dues and he could have released an album of atmospheric flatulence if he was so inclined. Thankfully he decided to go the mellower route, and release a collection of quite thoughtful meandering songs.

Now this isn’t as stinky as I’m making it out to be. It is David Gilmour after all, and pedigree shows through. It’s just that compared to his body of work, this isn’t exactly a high water mark. But there are glimpses of past glory. The title track is vintage Gilmour, and throughout the album there are inside winks and nods to the faithful.

If you’re looking for a quite, relatively risk free, and marginally boring album On An Island is the album for you. Of course having been a total dick to a legend, I will say that if you have the time to let this one sink in, after numerous repeated listenings (at the time of my writing this, it’s been playing all day on repeat) it does get better.

This is probably the last solo disc by Dave. The next one would be when he's in his 80's.

Reviewed March 8, 2006

Suddenly I Came To My Senses (©1996 EMI Canada)

1: Evaporate 2: Here With Me 3: Everything You're Missing 4: What I Need 5: Come To Me 6: Everything's Funny 7: Him With His Foot In His Mouth 8: Midnight Man 9: Summertime 10: You're At It Again 11: Love In My Head 12: Sunday Morning Blues 13: All I Wanted To Say 14: Solid Ground - American Remix (Bonus Track)

Ginger is one of those bands who pushes all the right buttons, but for some reason things just doesn’t quite click. Which is weird, since all of the ingredients seem to be there. It’s kind of like making soup and skimping on the salt. On the surface it looks yummy and smells great, but when you actually start to chow down you can tell something is missing.

Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t as bland as I’m making it sound. There are some truly enjoyable tracks like Here With Me, and the haunting What I Need spring to mind right away.

Tom Hooper is an engaging singer, and Chris and Lanny round out the sound. Former member Vince Jones adds his keyboards throughout, a parting gift I suppose prior to leaving.

Of course there are people who dismiss these guys due to their past association with Grapes of Wrath, and those who like them just the way they are.

Sure it needs a little salt, but these guys still made a pretty good soup.

Reviewed September 16, 2003

Voices from the Old World (©1986, ©1998 GrandyZine Productions CD-R)

Tracks: The Sands of Sinai: A Great Procession / The Sands of Sinai: The Wilderness / The Sands of Sinai: Tablets of Stone / The Sands of Sinai: Across the Jordan / Prayer of the Publican / At the Door of Wittenburg Cathedral / Suite for All Seasons: Spring / Suite for All Seasons: Summer / Suite for All Seasons: Autumn / Suite for All Seasons: Winter

One of those interesting albums I picked up because I'm something of a retentive collector. It's available from Numavox as a special CD-R (my version hasn't been played a lot, and it's already scratched and somewhat battered - weird since I'm totally anal about looking after my stuff). This is not a bad album, in fact it's pretty good. Just not my cup of tea. This was a definite departure for Mike. You can really hear the prog-rock elements in many of the arrangements, and it draws favourable comparisons to Kerry Livgren's work on One of Several Possible Musiks - minus the guitars.

Not an album I listen to a lot, but it surfaces from time to time. It's a pretty decent soundtrack without a movie to go with it. I prefer his vocal albums, both of which I strongly recommend. You've got to give him credit for attempting this one.

Suggested reading by someone who liked it a lot more than me: Another Opinion

Reviewed November 21, 2002

Every Road (©2001 Pressure Point)

Tracks: Every Road / Maybe I Don't Know / Stranger / Soul Town / Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind / Nothing's Changed / Joe Average / The Morning News / Truth Is / Will You Be Here? / Suddenly / All's Forgiven

Considering the blistering pace of Mike's solo career, I'm sure many of his fans wondered if he would ever release another album. After all, ten years is a fair chunk of time no matter how you slice it.

When it kicked in I thought I was playing the wrong disc. From his time with AD and his first solo effort, it was Mike's distinctive voice that set him apart from a lot of the other singers out there. Whoever was singing here sounded more like Danny Wilde from the Rembrandts than Michael Gleason. The change was that dramatic. How the heck did he pull off such a transformation?

It took me a couple of listens to get into this one, and get past (used to) Mike's new sound, but the songs are so punchy and enjoyable that it didn't take long to appreciate his new direction. Progressive Rock isn't exactly burning up the charts anymore - well, neither is Mike to be honest, but good songs are good songs, and if Mike can live with a small market audience, I can stand to be one of those listening.

Hats off, and try not to take another 10 years, eh? (I am Canadian after all)

Reviewed November 23, 2002

"JED" (©1989 Metal Blade)

songs: Out Of Sight / Up Yours / No Way Out / 7th Of The Month (or Giggly the Cat Gets a Bath) / Love Dolls / Sex Magnet / Down On The Corner / Had Enough / Road To Salinas / "Em Elbmuh" / Misfortune / Artie / Gimme Shelter / James Dean

I found "JED" in a clearance bin and snapped it up. A Boy Named Goo is one of my favourite CDs, and although I like their mellow songs like Name, Iris and Black Balloon, I really like their rock. The songs on "JED" aren't polished power pop, this is rough aggressive rock and roll. The boys squeeze fourteen songs into little more than a half an hour. This is good stuff, and worth a few listens.

SuperstarCarWash (©1993 Warner Bros./Metal Blade)

songs: Fallin' Down / Lucky Star / Cuz You're Gone / Don't Worry / Girl Right Next To Me / Domino / We Are The Normal / String Of Lies / Another Second Time Around / Stop The World / Already There / On The Lie / Close Your Eyes / So Far Away

Crunchy, aggressive, loud, and pounding. Much more polished than "JED" without losing the raw power that makes them so appealing. From the opening cut Fallin' Down to So Far Away just about every one of the 14 songs is a keeper. We Are The Normal hints at the sound that would break them to a wider audience, but for me the rock songs are what these guys are about. This is a great band.

Reviewed October 16. 2000

Run To You (©2002 Holiday Records)

Tracks: In This Place / You Are / Falling / To Know You More / All That I Need / Everything / Run To You / This Is Your House / Save Me / Lift My Voice / Above The Earth

Not so long ago I discovered an excellent album by a band called The Frantics. Curious about them I tried finding out more, and lo and behold to quote Mister Cleese, "They were no more." Saddened but not disheartened I figured the guys in the band were too good to just disappear. Sure enough a search for Chris Shandrow, their lead singer, led me to Goodbye Audio. The band had a couple of mp3s (full versions) posted, after a listen I was hooked. Check for yourself at http://goodbyeaudio.com.

Chris isn't the only guy in the band; Lewis and Stacey Lux, formerly of another defunct Organic Records act Stereo Deluxx (a band I've heard of but never heard) and Jimmy Wise (a guy I know nothing about) round out the lineup. Remember when indie used to be synonymous with crappy? At least it did for the stuff I released. Run To You is an excellent sounding record, which is a real nod to the band's talent in the recording and engineering department. I wish they'd have included some credits. Shame shame, some folks do read the fine print when it's legible.

This album falls loosely into the praise and worship bucket (ick), don't let that put you off - it's chock full of great tunes, and has a real sense of energy and life missing from most of the self congratulatory albums I've been subjected to over the last little while.

I've been playing this solid for a week now, and it's holding up pretty good. The first few times through it was Chris' songs that really stood out, but as time goes by I'm gaining an appreciation for the rest of the album.

This one is worth picking up.

Reviewed November 24, 2002

Interview with Goodbye Audio from March 2003

Barry Goudreau (©1980, 1996 Razor & Tie)

The Songs: Hard Luck / Nothin' To Lose / What's A Fella To Do?/ Mean Woman Blues / LEavin' Tonight / Dreams / Life Is What We Make It / Sailin' Away / Cold Cold World

Here it is over 20 years after the release of Barry's first solo CD, and I'll admit it's better than I expected. For whatever reason I've been listening to a lot of Barry's work recently - from Orion the Hunter to RTZ. Like a lot of people I'd just assumed that Boston was all Tom Sholz with the other guys pitching in little more than photographs.

This album features Sib (drums) and Brad (vocals) from Boston, and singer Fran Cosmo and the results have a Bostoneque flavour, but mostly it's a fun romp through late 70's power chord rock with lots of hooks and solos. Oddly enough songs from this album have floated around as "lost" tracks that were supposed to be on the third Boston album.

The only real clunker is Mean Woman Blues, which is so terrible it's almost fun in an "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" kind of way. It's too bad that Barry's never been able to get out from Boston's shadow. It seems that no matter what he does it'll always be compared to his time with Boston. I guess it's partly his fault too, since he tends to work a lot with Brad who is the voice of Boston. Fran is an interesting story too, after he cut his teeth on a couple of albums with Barry he was hired by Tom to sing with Boston.

Life's nothing if not funny.

Reviewed February 5, 2002

Flying (©1997 Forefront)

songs: Jonah / Less of Me / Flying / Rocketship / Peace / Pain / Sell Your Soul / Fuse / Spiderweb / Found in You / For Me

From the opening cut you get the feeling that this is going to be a pretty solid record, and thankfully it manages to hold together all the way through. I hate to pigeon-hole their sound, but the songs on "Flying" have the feel of Soundgarden's better work, a dash of Marcy Playground, and even a little bit of Nuno. Besides all that you've got to like a band that lists the characters from Red Dwarf in their thank yous.

Reviewed June 7, 2000

Field Trip (©2000 Song)

songs: Black Eye / Like A Fool / 18 / Sell The Goat / Rivers Flow / Hitchhiker / Dropping The Y / Head In My Hands / Jack's Dilemma / Begin Communication / But Oh Well / Still Confused

Bonus CD: Extended Field Trip: Misunerstanding / You May Be Right / All The Things I Wasn't / What Was Going Through My Head / Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head") / Ninety Nine Miles From L.A.

The jangly boys are back, but the band's gone. Oh well you can't have everything. It's good to hear Tom and Kevin playing together again. In the early 90's when the band broke up, Tom Hooper and the rest of the guys formed Ginger and released a couple of pretty solid albums. Kevin Kane floated around and released a solid solo effort of his own. Apparently the split was less than amicable, but time as they say heals all wounds.

These guys were poised for greatness when they imploded. So here we are years later, and the main duo are making a grab for the brass ring. This is a good album, and I found myself really wanting the guys to pull it off. They push all the right buttons, and pull off their solid hooks, and crisp songs but it's not quite right.

There's a bonus CD which is very good. Heck, the boys prove they were born too late. Their version of the Monkee's "Porpoise Song" is great.

If you were ever a fan of the band in their prime this is like old home week, but I get the feeling neither Tom nor Kevin want to be in the nostalgia bin.

Reviewed May 20, 2002

Serious Business (©1988 Atlantic)

1: In The Danger Zone 2: Right 3: Playin' To Win 4: Serious Business 5: I Can't Hold Back 6: Let It Go 7: R U Ready For Love 8: I Believe In You 9: It's Alright 10: I Can't Say No

A couple years after April Wine came apart, Brian stepped out of the shadows and released his first and only solo disc. Rock and roll is a strange beast, it's hard to imagine that after all the years spent in the business Brian was still only in his mid thirties when this came out. Do the math, he's now in his 50's and still rockin'.

But let's travel back to 1988 and Atlantic has signed Brian and is giving him a shot at the brass ring. He put together a band that featured Aldo Nova on keyboards and backing vocals, Andy Newmark on drums, and Marty Simon on keyboards. Heck, Alex Lifeson even contributed a solo. Tracy Howe from Rational Youth helped write a couple of songs. Not to give away the ending, but he never got the ring.

Brian's vocal delivery sounds a lot like Aldo Nova throughout, which came as a bit of a surprise. Brian's guitar playing is pretty solid - he's not a shredmeister - rather he's a thinker which is better in my opinion.

I'll admit to having a certain amount of anti-Brian baggage. His songs were never among my favourites when he managed to get a fronting spot on an April Wine release. So when I found this in the delete bins years and years ago I gave it a couple of cursory listens and blew it off as weak and nothing special.

But there was something about it that kept me coming back to it. Even now I still don't think it's a great album - but I keep listening to it every so often. It is a good album with a couple of really wicked songs. The killer song here is R U Ready For Love. The beginning of this song is so catchy it's unbelievable. There aren't any stinkers either which helps me unload the baggage and finally give the guy a chance. And strange as it seems Serious Business gets a little bit better every time I pull it off the shelf and give it a spin.

Hard to imagine that 15 years has come and gone. Where does the time go?

Reviewed July 6, 2003

Flip Flop (©1989 Elektra)

songs: Look Up! / Always Saturday / The Likes Of You / Barometer / Happy Home / Whiskey Talk / Pretty Is As Pretty Does / Everything But Good Luck / Ten Laws / Fade Out / ...Vista

In the late 80's there were a bevy of jangly guitar bands that rode the coattails of R.E.M.'s success. Suddenly it was cool to be from Anthens Georgia. Bands like The Grapes of Wrath (not from Athens, they're from Vancouver - who in the heck knows where Kelowna is . . . ) were opening shows for this band. I'm not an expert on them, I just have this one album, and it is full of tight tunes. Songs like "Always Saturday",and "Barometer" are pretty good, but my favourite song is "Vista". Makes me want to spin in circles like a hippie at a Dead concert.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (©1997 Fantasy)

Click here for review.

Smashes the Best of Guardian 1993 - 1998 (©1999 Myrrh)

Tracks: Dr. Jones & The Kings of Rhythm / Shoeshine Johnny / The Way Back Home / Endless Summer / C'mon Everyone / This Old Man / Lead The Way / Lion's Den / State Of Mind / Psychedelic Runaway / Bottlerocket / Coffee Can / Break Me Down / This Old Man (T.R.'s This Old Dub Mix) / Bottlerocket (CHR Remix) / Babble On (Acoustic Remix) / Queen Esther (Mellow Remix) / Bottlerocket (Dance Remix)

This is an excellent retrospective. Whenever an album like this comes out it usually means that the record company is cashing in on a band that has just been dumped, jumped to another label, or is about to breakup. Whatever the reason, this is a great record. The songs go chronically from old to new, and marks the progression from wannabe copycat hair band to musicians with their own sound and direction. The first couple of tracks really smoke, but I found my self trying to guess which band was being borrowed from. Ah, here’s some Bon Jovi, ooh, a bit o’Ratt here, a little dab of Motley Crue (in all fairness which 80’s band wasn’t guilty of this?). I’m not sure if the blame lies with the band or the producers. John and Dino Elefante sat behind the controls for the band’s first few albums. Those guys have produced some great records, but a lot of the bands they’ve produced tend to have an interchangeable sound.

However, the more acoustic oriented selections from Swing Swang Swung kind of puncture the producers pollution argument. So long John and Dino, enter Steve Taylor the producer, a man who I really admire as a performer, and these guys hit their stride and the music takes on new life, and really starts cooking. Gritty, honest, and inspired, the band shows a maturity and confidence of style.

I know the guys didn't think much of this collection, and subsequently put out their own "best of" - but this is the album that introduced me to the band, and quite quickly their back catalog. I liked it - I liked it a lot.

Reviewed July 1999

LIVE! (©1999 G-Man)

songs: Bottle Rocket / Coffee Can / Lion's Den / What Does It Take? / Psychadelic Runaway / Lead The Way / This Old Man / Revelation / Babble On / My Queen Esther / Salvation / Pride

What a great record. Live albums are always a risk. They're either so polished that it's like listening to the studio versions, or the recording is so rough it's not worth listening to. With LIVE! Guardian manages to walk the line and deliver a tight energy packed live album the feels like a performance, and not a studio record with some added crowd noise.

The songs are mainly from their post hair metal phase, but this isn't some cushy soft rock effort. The songs cook. Heck the boys even throw in a U2 cover for fun. This isn't an album to be missed if you're a Guardian fan.

Reviewed July 2000

1: Welcome To The Jungle 2: Sweet Child O' Mine 3: Patience 4: Paradise City 5: Knockin' On Heaven's Door 6: Civil War 7: You Could Be Mine 8: Don't Cry (Original) 9: November Rain 10: Live And Let Die 11: Yesterdays 12: Ain't It Fun 13: Since I Don't Have You 14: Sympathy For The Devil

I finally broke down and bought something by GNR. It’s not like they didn’t have some cool songs - they scored huge more than once, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t bring myself to buy any of their stuff. I’m kind of ambivalent toward greatest hits packages, some are good, some aren’t. Given my preconceptions of the band, I wasn’t sure what to expect, considering how skinny their discography is, the strength of this hits offering is surprising. The album pounds out of the gates, and delivers an even half dozen killers, before resorting to filler material. The remaining cuts on the album are a mixed bag: November Rain, is as overblown and pretentious as ever, and oddly enough is more appealing today than it was when it was a hit. Live and Let Die is a great take on the original (but not as good as). The album closes with Sympathy for the Devil, which is okay, but doesn’t offer anything over the Stone’s version.

The simple reason GNR has achieved such mythic proportions is based mostly on the fact that they were a simple-minded (emphasis on simple) kick ass rock and roll band. Sure the guys had the big hair, none bigger than Slash’s – but they weren’t a hair band. Which is why people can listen to much of their stuff, and not laugh at the cheesy arrangements (take your pick of any 80’s era spandex wearing big hair metal band). It’s rock and roll and it’ll never die.

The band did their best to burn out, and not fade away. Now if someone could let Axl Rose know that the show's over and he's the last one left, can he please close the door and turn out the lights?

Reviewed November 25, 2004

Scumdogs of the Universe (©1994 Metal Blade Records)

The Songs: The Salaminizer / Maggots / Sick Of You / Slaughterama / The Years Without Light / King Queen / Horror Of Yig / Vlap The Impaler / Black And Huge / Love Surgery / Death Pod / Sexecutioner / Cool Place To Park

I wish I knew what I was thinking when I bought this album. Somebody told me they were like Green Jelly but harder. I kind of like Green Jelly, they crack me up with some of their stuff. I only keep this record around to remind me of what truly awful music is like (actually that's not really fair, some of the music is pretty freaking good - it's their subject matter that confirms my status as a prude).

I just know that one day my kids are going to find this and then like Lucy I'm going to have some essplainin to do.

Additional December 2002, well I actually got rid of something from my collection. I'm proud of myself. Since I'm the worst kind of packrat, it's usually nearly impossible for me to part with something once I get my grubby little hands on it.

Thank you Gwar. You've helped me help myself.