For their third album, L.A. Guns decide to "experiment". Imagewise, they
adopt a darker, almost gothic look. Musically, they incorporate a hefty dose
of bluesy, '70's style, Aerosmith/Zeppelin influences. This is all fine and
dandy, but it comes at the expense of a lot of the streetwise "edge" of
their first two albums. The distortion has definitely been dialed down a bit
here as well.
You know something's different from the beginning, as "Over The Edge," while
a good song, isn't very energetic, and just seems like an odd way to start
the album. Of course, the romping, swinging first single "Kiss My Love
Gooodbye" is one of the band's best songs, and was a staple of rock radio in
the summer of '91. Some of the group's earlier sass and attitude is still
present in the catalog favorites "Some Lie 4 Love" and "Wild Obsession," and
"Dirty Luv" has a cool little groove and good chorus as well. "Snake Eye
Boogie" is fast and fun, and the album ends with the sinister badass-blues
of "Big House."
The offering also contains three ballads, all very different from one another.
"Crystal Eyes" is haunting and mysterious, and frequently appears in the
band's live sets (it was also re-recorded for 1995's Vicious Circles). The
organ-drenched "It's Over Now," another single, is a very simple song as far
as the music and melody go, but is extremely effective at getting the point
of the lyrics across. The slow, bluesy waltz of "I Found You," on the other
hand, almost sounds like somebody's wedding song. It'd probably make a
pretty good one, come to think of it...
Overall, this isn't L.A. Guns's best album, and the sleazy, neon-lit
party-metal is certainly missed. But it does have some of the band's
definite classics, and it can be found new for pretty cheap, so what the
hell? I much prefer 'Cocked And Loaded,' though .
TRACK LIST:
1. Over The Edge
2. Some Lie 4 Love
3. Kiss My Love Goodbye
4. Here It Cums
5. Crystal Eyes
6. Wild Obsession
7. Dirty Luv
8. My Koo Ka Choo
9. It's Over Now
10. Snake Eye Boogie
11. I Found You
12. Big House
Review by Kip Massey