New Releases - Kelley Deal 6000, Ten Foot Pole, Tenderloin, Motley Crue [an error occurred while processing this directive]

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Rating Scale: to
Artist: "KELLEY DEAL 6000"
Title: "go to the sugar altar"
Label: Nice Records
Reviewed By: Colette Engel
Rating:


If you're a "Breeders" fan, then you already know Kelley Deal. A problem with heroin forced her to leave that band and seek treatment. Upon her release, she formed "The Kelley Deal 6000" and "go to the sugar altar" is the first solo project from Kelley.

"Y'know, if you go looking at the album like it's gonna go rock your world it's not, it's subtle and people actually seem to get it, and that makes me feel really cool. I knew I liked it but I didn't know if people would like it," says Kelley, who has spent a lot of time in the shadow of sister Kim, founder of the Breeders. But with this album, she's carving her own niche in the music world. People will indeed like it.

The album starts off with "Canyon" and this song gives the album a kind of strolling feel. Like you're sauntering into a room or a place. It is a perfect beginning and sets a nice tone for the rest of the album. The song itself is based on Kelley's perceptions of a crack addict. "How About Hero" uses a twangy, almost tropical-sounding rhythm in the background giving it a different kind of a sound. The result is fantastic--this is one of my favorites on the album.

"Sugar" is another of the songs that I liked the first time I heard it. The whole album has a laid-back feel to it and this song seems to emphasize that quality. "Sweet like sugar....stupid like a wombat.....tell me you love me.....and I will say it back." The lyrics are not complex, yet they just seem to fit, creating a song that is a pleasure to listen to.

"A Hundred Tires" provides a tempo change to the album. It's a punk-sounding song with some great guitar effects throughout. Kelley sounds hard and brutal while she sings "a hundred tires, don't talk to me......get me a blowtorch then you leave...... there's too much fire, there's too much trash......a hundred tires, get off my ass." The track has great drumming, providing a beat that carries the guitar and vocals throughout the song. This has to be my personal favorite song on the album.

With the next two songs, the album takes another turn and slows down again. "Head of the Cult" and "Nice" are much slower-paced and fairly short compared to the other songs. "Nice" uses a distortion factor in the vocals that is a little disturbing the first time you hear it. Creepy is how I'd have to describe it as a first impression. Once you get past it, the song is actually kind of relaxing. There is a melody at the end that sounds like it may have come from a lullaby.

"Mr.Goodnight," the last song on the album, is an instrumental number with Kelley strumming away on the guitar. "Mr. Goodnight is another of my favorite songs, because that's where I let my guard down the most," Kelley explains. "It's like, I'm in the bar and I'm deciding who I'm gonna be." It's a great song to finish the album with. It leaves you with a feeling that Kelley will be back with bigger and better things---sort of like she's tuning up and practicing for the next album. I know that I'll be watching for more from "The Kelley Deal 6000."

Editor's Note: We just received a copy of the new album by "The Kelley Deal 6000" called "Boom, Boom, Boom," and it will be reviewed in next month's issue.

Artist: "TEN FOOT POLE"
Title: "UNLEASHED"
Label: Epitaph
Available: Any Major Music Store
Reviewed By: Jill Williams
Rating:

"Ten Foot Pole" began 13 years ago as a band called "Scared Straight," with a lead singer who had a bad habit of playing professional baseball. Since they could only practice three months of the year, they granted him free agency, and Dennis, the guitarist, got to sing for a change. The band members are Steve, Dennis, Tony, and Pete. The last names are a mystery. The only band I can think of to compare them to is Green Day, but "Ten Foot Pole" isn't nearly as cool.

"Unleashed" covers some really interesting topics in musically incompetent ways, and has just a few good tunes with average lyrics. There's nothing wrong with the band, but there's not much to make you stand up and say "hey, that's cool" either. Most of the album is about love lost and how life sucks. Not really new ground we're covering here, and it's not even presented in a very interesting way.

One noteable exception is "John," about a man involved in some sort of conspiracy, who turns up dead of an apparent suicide, but is it really? The music is nothing to write home about, but the lyrics are a real kick. Similarly, "Hey Pete" isn't any fun to listen to, but the lyrics are funny as hell. "Hey Pete I see from what you said/That the problem's all in your head/And if you want to make a change/ You must let go of being strange," a mother explains to her son.

"Daddy" is about child abuse. It's very disturbing subject matter and it's a pretty sad, but rough sounding, song. The music on this one is even pretty good, but I can't say I was comfortable hearing it.

"Regret" is the most musically fun song on the whole CD. "There's a monster inside my heart/He tries to tear my world apart/There's a demon inside my head/Tells me that I'm better off dead." Ok, so the lyrics don't sound like a lot of fun, but if you just listen to the tune, I swear you'll be dancing. "A.D.D." is the last song on this album. It's truly odd, but it's the best mix of music and lyrics you can find on this CD. It's about a little boy with A.D.D., who gets a prescription for Ritalin, and his mother takes them instead of giving them to him. This funny-sad song has an angry, desperate, pace to it. Definitely the one most worth listening to.

The other eight songs aren't even worth mentioning. You can't say "Ten Foot Pole" doesn't have a social concience. It's there, and it's all in your face, but they have real trouble musically. All of their songs sound about the same even though the subjects, at times, can be pretty interesting. I enjoy punk rock, so I know it's not the style, but the album. They have potential, but they don't seem to be trying very hard. If you're into buying music just for background noise, this is great. If you want to hear some songs that make you think and you don't care what they sound like, this is for you. If you want a really all-around good CD, look somewhere else, 'cause this ain't it.

7/1/97
Title: "TENDERLOIN"
Artist: "TENDERLOIN"
Label: Time Bomb Records
Available: Most Major Music Stores
Rating:
This is the first truly rock& roll group with a country touch I've heard since Creedence Clearwater Revival crossed over to mainstream rock. At first listen one might simply take it as a just another rock album except for the lyrics which contain the kind of hooks that you expect to find in country songs. Whether it is drinking, guitars, or lost loves, they're all here. But the music is pure rock and roll with the dynamite guitar playing of Kirk St. James, the bass play of "Big John" Cutler, the pounding beat from drummer Taz Bentley and the vibrant vocals of lead singer Ernie Locke.

Most of the band hails from Kansas City, thus the Tenderloin moniker is a natural for a band from a city famous for its beef, if not its rock and roll bands. This is their second album, the first with their new label, Time Bomb Records.

From the opening cut, "So Cold," the band turns up the heat with "Fat Side Up" and the wailing of the harmonica goes well with this song about of all things, barbecue! "Bourbon" starts out with a deep bass vocal, then switches in midstream to a punk rock riff that takes you by surprise, but is amazingly effective. This cut reminded me of the Butthole Surfers at their sleaziest.

There is such a wide variety of pace, vocals and music that each cut is a brand new experience. Lyrics like ' your eyes shine like blood red wine' from "Crackerbox" paint visual pictures that are hard to resist. "Leather Jesus" has lyrics almost too fast to follow but contains some of the best musical riffs on the album. The final cut "Precious and Grace" features more of the mean harmonica play that graces much of the album. All of the cuts on this album are well done, and this is a band that should be heard from in the future. After all Tenderloin is the 'prime cut.'


Artist: "MOTLEY CRUE"
Title: "GENTERATION SWINE"
Label: Elektra
Available: Any Major Music Store
Reviewed By: G. Horstman
Rating:

"Generation Swine is 'Mötley Crüe's' clarion call to anyone who refuses to be pre- packaged, e-mailed, faxed or fooled into submission as part of yet another generational bodycount. It's a bulldozer of a record designed to plow over once and for all Gen X - the Pepsi Generation - the Me Generation and every other corporate cattlecall sounded over the years." With "Generation Swine," they're Back!

"Generation Swine alludes to everything we've never stood for," says Nikki Sixx. "Everything we've railed against. But in reality even we are part of Generation Swine, in a way. Everyone wants to succeed, make money, be successful. But what happens is you end up becoming a bit of a pig. If you spend your money on yourself and what's around you, and don't give to charity, or give of yourself, or reach out to help the homeless or runaway kids or something like that, let's fact it . . . you're a bit of a swine. We've been pigs just like everyone else. We're just rubbing our face in the mud. There's only one Mother Theresa and one Pope, everyone on down is a pig!"

With Vince Neil back, "Mötley Crüe" is ready to "rail" once again. The five year separation has only increased their appetite for even more dirt under their fingernails. Seventeen years down the road, and with nearly 35 million albums sold worldwide, the Mötley Crüe journey has been as unpredictable as any in music. After their much publicized split with Vince Neil in 1992, nobody thought the original Crüe lineup would ever be together again. But all they needed was a common enemy. Complacency.

"Music has gone through another crazy phase" says Tommy Lee. "We welcome the changes. We've always refused to be pigeonholed." Vince Neil agrees. "In a way, the vacation from each other did us some good," says Vince. "Music seems to need a kick in the ass right now. Believe me, we're grateful that we were able to influence a lot of bands, now we're ready to shake things up again."

Now, with all that out of the way, what's the album like? Well, to me sounds like typical "Crüe" with some new lyrical themes and their trademark thrash metal. They've pulled a few little tricks here and there, including in the liner notes, unless my advance copy was put together wrong. The song lyrics start at the back of the liner notes and progress to the front. They've added some hog sounds to the first song, "Find Myself," and the rest of the lyrics are basically a put down of themselves. There's also either a real little kid, or someone faking it, hollering "Destruction" at the end of the song.

"Afraid" is a really cool song musically, and the lyrics are pretty timely. "It's only life/She's so afraid to kiss/An' so afraid to laugh/Is she runnin' from her past?" ending with ""It's only life/She's so afraid of this. "Flush" is a heavier song, with a great melody line and harmonies accompanied by discordant instrumentals, that deals with drug addiction - as in being one. The title song, "Generation Swine," is pretty standard musically, and the lyrics express the quotes at the beginning of this article. Moving on to "Confessions," the pace slows down from the more frenetic first four songs, and has a great sound, if a bit unusual lyrics.

Good old heavy rock 'n roll starts off "Beauty." Except this "Beauty" is cocaine, and this song also deals with addiction, H.I.V. and how it relates to Generation Swine. "Glitter" is a tricky little number that sounds like anybody other than "Crüe." The first real rock ballad on the album, it's a pretty good song. Moving into thrash metal is "Anybody Out There?" a marathon number with some really great speed vocals and instrumentals that keeps the time it's playing short. "Let Us Prey" has an unusual intro and a hardcore edge to it. This song is okay, but nothing spectacular. Another really cool rock ballad is "Rocketship." These well placed slower numbers not only offer some variety, but keep the pace of the album in balance.

"A Rat Like Me" gets pretty heavy again, with more down on the generation, and the world in general, lyrics and music to match. "Shout At The Devil '97" is pretty much like the earlier version - maybe a little different in the lyrics, but it sounds about the same. The last song on the album, "Brandon," was written by Tommy Lee and dedicated to his wife and son. This is a really beautiful song, both musically and lyrically, and seems an unusual end to this particular album - then again maybe not. Because this is for the children of the NEXT Generation.

 

 

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