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Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Album #91 : Poison - Open Up And Say...Ahh!


Poison
Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988)

80s glam metal/hard rock has a lot to answer for. For every Guns 'n' Roses there's a Warrant; for every Motley Crue there's a Slaughter; and for every Skid Row....well, there's another Skid Row.

Poison, generally speaking, probably slot in somewhere in the middle. They certainly produced their fair share of hits (most of which are on this album) but somewhere along the line, they (or, to be more precise, Bret Michaels) became one big monster joke, eventually reaching a point where they he was beyond parody. It probably also didn't help that they hit the big time right before glam rock was given the arse, in favour of the grittier, more "real" alternative/grunge sound. Their first two albums, though, are great examples of the 80s glam vibe.

Open Up and Say... Ahh! was their second album, and their biggest selling by some distance. Its popularity was down to the presence of some of the group's biggest singles. However, looking deeper, there's a little more to this album than just an acoustic power ballad....

The Album

Essentially, this album is a testament to some of the excesses of 80s rock - girls, sex, cash, living free and easy. It's packaged in an easy to listen to, hard rocking style, though without the harder edge of some of their contemporaries. By the band's own admission, it's a real stadium rock record...particularly some of the singles, which contain all the necessary ingredients of a stadium rock anthem (big singalong chorus, massive solos, instrumental breaks inviting handclaps from a massive audience). Speaking of solos, the absolute star of this record is guitarist CC DeVille...the man is a fair dinkum beast, melting his fretboard (and faces) with some sick solos and thumping out some rockin' riffs.

Needless to say the album's best songs are some of the singles. Leading from the front, the anthemic Nothin' But A Good Time, which has all of those ingredients in spades. Telling a story that most of the band's fans could probably relate to (not enough money to do anything, all you want to do is party), it does so in one hell of a catchy way. You can't help but pump your fists in the air, shouting, "DON'T NEED NOTHING BUT A GOOD TIME". Fallen Angel was unrecognisable until the chorus, at which point I had a lightbulb moment of realisation. More cool riffs and solos, and a few nice lyrical touches (describing the dream of getting big in LA as 'rolling the dice with (your) life' is a heartily accurate description), and the chorus is another arena singalong.

The song the band (and the album) are best known for, however, is the power ballad to end all power ballads, Every Rose Has Its Thorn. It's notable for its difference to the rest of the album (an entirely acoustic-driven composition), its deliberate decision to eschew fistpumping riffery for emotion and feeling, and Bret Michaels' vulnerable vocal performance. I'd go so far to say as it's the best thing Michaels has ever done. Additionally, CC DeVille elects to play a solo laced with wistful reflection and heartbreak. It shows that beneath all the makeup and hair, a sense of heart resided.

The album tracks contain no major surprises. The theme of 'rock hard, live hard' persists, and there's more fucking kickarse riffs and solos than you can shake a stick at, but the quality of the songs wavers somewhat. The band's cover of Your Mama Don't Dance is highly underrated. It's a sensational cover, keeping enough of the original's charm but being unmistakably Poison - a glam take on a straight blues/rock tune. There's also a stretch of three quality glam tunes in the middle of the album. Good Love was close to my favourite track, starting with a cool guitar lick and harmonica solo, which gives it a country/blues tinge. The main riff also features a bit of a nod to the Bo Diddley beat and 50s rock and roll. Tearin' Down The Walls and Look But You Can't Touch are both head-noddingly good; rollicking along at a good pace, they are both very hooky rock tunes with more DeVille guitar genius. 

There weren't any bad songs as such, but in Back on the Rocking Horse and Love On The Rocks, the band produce acceptable stock-standard glam tunes that just seem to lack a certain something (certainly compared to other tracks on the album). Again, if not for the riff/solo work of DeVille, they would be bog-standard tunes; he lifts them to the barely average. They are the very definition of filler, and perhaps prove that there really can be too much of a pretty good thing.

The Verdict

Open Up and Say... Ahh! rocks. Hard. 

Unbeknownst to the band at the time, it represents a certain style and sound that was on the way out (until The Darkness and Steel Panther were to resuscitate it). Interestingly, some hallmarks (like those stadium-rock friendly features) are still very much in evidence today.

There are better glam albums out there...but probably not many. This is one of the better ones you'll hear that is straight-up rock and roll, without orchestras and pianos and synths.

It's also worth listening to for CC DeVille alone.

My rating: *** and a half

Standout Tracks

Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Your Mama Don't Dance
Good Love
Nothin' But A Good Time

Tomorrow, we return to naff 80s soft rock/blues town!

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