My Amazon Reviews: Poison "20 Years Of Rock"

Take your medicine
4 Out of 5 Stars

Poison was one of those 'love to hate' bands of the 80's and 90's, racking up one glam rock hit after another, yet seemingly earning no respect with their double platinum. Yet they came from the same LA Street Scene that pulled up Guns and Roses, Ratt, and was essentially ruled by Motley Crue. Heck, the first Poison album, "Look What The Cat Dragged In" was on Indie label Enigma. It's not like they were handed their success, or got put together like the Monkees or something.

But there you have it. It's taken decades for Poison to get the credit they deserve and lately it's because of Brett Michaels having a stroke and/or being one of the hardest working front men in show-biz. When you crack open the Poison "20 Years Of Rock" and listen minus the hubris of the times, these songs have withstood the test of time. Then you look at the stats in the liner notes. From 1987 to 1991, Poison racked up an incredible ten Top 40 singles, 6 of these top ten and "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" hitting number one. Not bad for a bunch of guys with big hair and eyeliner.

At the same time, Poison has a workmanlike charm to the best of their songs. Call it 'blue-collar' or 'working-man' rock, but a party anthem like "Nothing But a Good Time" rates up there with "Rock and Roll All Night" (which they covered for the "Less Than Zero" soundtrack). When they got ambitious ("Something To Believe In"), they were a bit over-stretched, and unfortunately, the more they tried to break the glam-mold, (the album "Native Tongue"), the party hard audience drifted off - and only one song from that album is here. (And none from "Crack a Smile").

I am Ok with that, at their best, Poison were a singles band. They were a posturing, prancing and preening singles band, but why should that make a difference? Most bands would sell their souls to come up with the riff for "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" or "Talk Dirty To Me." It was more about the fun. So when Michaels yelped "CC, pick up that guitar and TALK to me!", you can tell that the party was on the way. 20 years on, it still feels that way.