Jetboy are not reunited. This is a compilation of older and unreleased material.
Jetboy had a short-lived career releasing 2 albums on a major label. The music was loaded with energy and all members had a great attitude. Mainly Jetboy's characteristic lead singer Mickey Finn, who stood out by having a Mohawk haircut.
Hanoi Rocks bass player Sam Yaffa played bass on their first album, which gave them a lot of press coverage.
Since this is a compilation of demos, outtakes and various versions of already released tracks a short track by track review is proper.
The album opens with a different version of the title track from Jetboy's debut album "Feel the Shake" released in 1988. The song sets the overall standard for this compilation. This is great sleaze rock with stunning vocals and great guitar solos. This mix fades up towards a climax for the chorus making the listener
Feel the Shake.
Trouble Comes is a chord rocker
AC/DC style. The chorus is a real earhanger and Mickey Finn's vocals are stunning. One of the best tracks is
Stomp It Down. The resemblance to bands like
Junkyard is heard on this great track.
Missing You is a bit more pop compared to the other songs. A great melody and a great acoustic guitar riff save the song. Since this is a semi acoustic song it leaves more room for Mickey Finn's amazing voice to unfold. From Jetboy's second and last studio album "Damned Nation" we get a demo version of the bouncy rocker
Heavy Chevy. The song is driven by a great riff ala the theme from Blues Brothers.
The title really says it all for
Rock 'N' Roller.
Evil is recorded with a drum machine, which is dragging down the song. However, a tasty bass and a great chorus save the song from being total ignorant. The cover version of the
Kiss classic
Hard Luck Woman is quite good with a raspier Mickey Finn. The song is played very true to
Kiss' version from 1976.
Burning Down is changing pace to kick ass Rock N' Roll. An album highlight with another ear-hanging chorus and a harp is adding another dimension to Jetboy's material.
Bloody Hands is stripped down featuring acoustic guitars and Mickey Finn only. The song is a real campfire song.
Busted and
Call Me a Stranger are both standard songs, nothing special. The tempo slows down for the acoustic ballad
Live & Die In A Day. The 2 acoustic guitar are complementing each other great and Finn's vocals are sounding a bit raspier. Low sound quality and the use of drum machine on
Devil's Song is a shame since the song has many great elements of the 80's Glam and Sleaze scene.
Unfortunately great sleaze rock is rare these days. Therefore it is nice with some outtakes and demos from Jetboy, whose great songs proudly represent this style.
The minuses are the sound quality and it is obvious that some songs are transferred from analog tape onto Compact disc. Therefore there are some tape noise on a few songs.
Written by
Michael Thursday, March 27, 2003
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