Various Artists: Hollywood Hairspray Vol. 5

Perris Records is a great label if you are a fan of or in a band that longs for the way Rock and Roll used to the delivered in "Hair Metal" eighties. Musically, the time was a little simpler, and a whole lot glitzier when it came down to it. It launched the word "Poser" and so many people wore the term like a badge of honor. The music industry literally embraced almost every band that came from the budding Hollywood scene while the fans of the harder edged stuff often fled the country, in a manner of speaking. This compilation takes a number of good bands and gives you a great sampling of their work. It's largely kitschy, glam-based Hard Rock singing about the glories of Rock and Roll, women and whiskey. There is some stand out tracks like "Instant Animal" and "Hold On To Your Dreams Tonight" as they have some of the catchier choruses that would just beg for an audience sing along back in the day. A couple of odd placements begin with Dirty Rig and their contribution of "Suck It". A great band, but don't belong on a release like this as opposed to something more along their lines. Fun songs are "Love Story" which has an old school Punk vibe and "Pusher" which simply rocks. Overall this is the kind of sampler that does what it sets out to do by being your introductory course to these bands. What you do with the information from there is up to you. It's a fun listen and I found myself spinning it a few times without it getting boring. A point worth mentioning also is the fact that a lot of these groups hail from countries such as Sweden, Netherlands, and Australia. The fact that they seem to be able to capture an 80's vibe with music recorded very recently is commendable indeed. Get that hairspray out if you were a fan from back in the day as you are going to enjoy this little retro-feel visit to decades past.

Band & Song Listing

1. Chris Laney – Instant Animal
2. Hollywood – Hearts On Fire
3. Dirty Rig – Suck It
4. RadioVipers - Pusher
5. Bastards - Pills
6. The Deadthings – Forever Damned
7. Sweet Cheater – Dancin On My Grave
8. Gunshy – Hold On To Your Dreams Tonight
9. On Parole – Midnight In Her Eyes
10. Jack Viper – Merry Go Around
11. Alter Eg X – Devil Woman
12. Silver Dirt – Go She Said
13. Backseat Superstars – Love Story
14. Snow – Razorblade Kiss
15. Nice 'N' Sleezy – Rock And Roll Addiction
16. Straight Fork – Women, Whiskey, Weed and Lies

Official Web site:

Added: November 27th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Perris Records
Hits: 1936
Language: english

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