Poison has had their fare share of greatest hits releases and there really is not alot special to set this apart from some of the others floating around on the market. On the plus side, it is stacked with what is arguably their best and most popular material including the big ballads,
Life Goes On,
Something to Believe In and the classic
Every Rose Has It's Thorn. It is primarily a tribute to their mass market years when their music was glammy and fresh and not stale as it has become as time passed on. There is a nod to the dubious Native Tongue with
Stand,
The Last Song pulled from the mostly live album Power to the People and
Shooting Star from the dysmal Hollyweird. It's actually a good thing that more tracks were not collected from these post hair metal mainstream years because it would have really dragged the running order down. Especially Hollyweird which was laughably disappointing.
Talk Dirty To Me still sounds great with that cracking raunchy guitar rhythm from C.C. Deville and
Nothing But A Good Time has enough popping energy to keep it a sing-a-long favorite.
Fallen Angel is upbeat but has a darker flip side, and who can forget the whipping melodic smoothness of
Ride the Wind? These songs are all well established and engraved in 80s music history. They might not be particularly thought provoking or brimming with depth but they make for a partying good time.
If you are wondering what is in it for the
Poison fan that absolutely must own it all, there are but two tracks that might fill that void. For curiousity's sake there is their cover of
Rock and Roll All Nite from the Less Than Zero movie soundtrack and the obligatory "new" studio song, a remake of
We're an American Band. Yes, indeed
Poison is just that - an American band, it is just a shame that there is not more new-ish or rare stuff to tempt buyers that already own the essentials.
However this trip down memory lane is a bit incomplete. There is not a single piece from Crack a Smile which seems almost sacriledge, seeing that it is their finest and most forgotten creation since the Flesh and Blood days. Yet it is still hard to knock an album that contains so many radio staples that are unforgettable for a reason.
If
Poison holds fond memories for you but not enough to go crazy and pick up their albums, then this is something you might want to look into. It proves that they were one of the biggest bands to come crawling out of the L.A. cesspool, and had a slew of entertaining hits that propelled them to well deserved stardom.
Written by
Alanna Sunday, April 9, 2006
Show all reviews by AlannaRatingsAlanna: 7/10Members: 7.5/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
Member ratings
 | notrap
Rating: 7.5/10
One of the biggest LA Glam bands of the 80's.
Never was into the glam scene however this ... · Read more · |
This article has been shown 3378 times. Go to the
complete list.
