Poison'd

Capitol

After celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2006 with a killer tour, Poison returned to the studio early this year and began recording their most recent release, Poison’d. Billed as a collection of songs that the band felt helped to define their musical style through the years, this album also marks Poison’s 21st birthday.  While there are no original songs on the disc, there are plenty of new arrangements to songs that you likely grew up listening to as a teen or young adult.

The disc starts off with a rendition of Sweet’s “Little Willy.”  This cover suits the band’s style and the update to the song is really excellent.  The vocals are not overpowering and the guitar blends very well into the rhythms of the chorus. Of course a song like this could easily become a mess if not done properly, but the tasteful musicianship provided by the band finds it pounding heavy with just the right amount of testosterone needed. Crank this one up and sing along…you know you want to!

Another notable is “Can’t You See” originally recorded by The Marshall Tucker Band. The musical meshing of both southern rock and country aspects of this tune are perfect compliments to Bret Michaels’ vocal style and 12-string dexterity. It’s almost as if he made the song popular or could have if he had originally written it. Bobby, Rikki and CC all chime in with amazing harmonies making this one of my favorite tracks.

The Romantic’s “What I Like About You” is also featured. It seems that this may be the tune they are using to initially help promote the album release as it was performed on late night television the week of the album’s release. I personally think this one could have been done with some more edge to it, but it still works given the overall feel of the album.

The disc is laden with reissued covers that have been released previously. “Rock ‘N Roll All Night” (originally by KISS), “Squeeze Box” (originally by The Who), “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” (originally by Jim Croce), “Your Momma Don’t Dance (originally by Loggins & Messina) and last year’s hit, “We’re An American Band” (originally by Grand Funk Railroad) are all included in this package. I’d always liked their version of “Squeeze Box” and am happy to see it readily available to the masses. Those who are a little less familiar with the previous covers would greatly benefit from listening to them.

I really don’t care for the arrangements on some of the songs and there are other songs where I never really liked the original version, so I find it hard to judge them here. In addition there are some songs I’ve always wished they would cover but never have. The great thing about music is that there is room for a wide range of tastes and what I don’t care for might be the best song on the album to another. Having been a huge Poison fan since their inception, I was really hoping that we would hear some original music this time around but what are you gonna do? The band seems to be facing heavy criticism for not creating new works of their own, but you have to lend it to the guys for trying something like this. Other bands from the 80s have recently or are currently releasing cover albums as well. Some of them work and some do not and let’s face it, cover songs are nothing new to the industry. Back in the hey-day of hair metal, many artists re-recorded some killer songs and even made hits out of them.  Anyone remember “Signs” as redone by Tesla?  So what’s wrong with doing it again with this band?   Nothing if you ask me.  But…I would still like to hear some new material sometime in the not too distant future.

Poison are currently on the road for their annual summer tour with the reunited RATT as support.  Check www.ticketmaster.com for dates coming near you. I’m sure that all those who attend will have “Nothing But A Good Time” (pun intended) with the original glam kings! 

-Christine Herb