LA Guns Discography
LA Guns NEWS
by Trevor Johnsen
part one:
official band releases
This is one of LA Guns' best albums. The band sounds super energetic and the songs really come through with a bang. The production makes it sound 80's, but it is not as bad as "Cocked & Loaded." This album contains a bunch of the band's signature songs like "sex action," "one more reason," "electric gypsy," "no mercy," and so many more. It also contains a cover of Girl's "hollywood tease" and Sweet Pain's "shoot for thrills." The weakest song on the album (and really the only dud on it) is probably "down in the city," and I think the album would have been better off without it. Maybe they should have substituted it with the Japanese-only bonus track "winters fool." Phil's singing is great, Tracii's guitar work is awesome, and Nickey's drum performances are actually very memorable. This is definitely one of LA Guns' strongest releases from start to finish, and is and was a very strong debut.
Cocked & Loaded (1989) four stars
Cocked & Re-Loaded (2000) two and a half stars
(C&RL was also released as "Rip & Tear" in Europe)
Although this is LA Guns' best-selling and most popular album to date, the production makes the album sound super-dated and some of the songs are a bit, well, lame. It contains three of the band's biggest hits: "the ballad of jayne," "never enough," and "rip and tear." It also contains many of LA Guns" classic songs that have gone by the wayside through the years like "wheels of fire," "magdalaine," "slap in the face," and "malaria." This album is considered by Phil and Steve to be the band's first release "as a band," because it was their first chance to write an album together with their "original lineup."
This album was re-recorded and re-released in 2000 as "Cocked & Re-Loaded," which is a less-than-awesome effort and doesn't really touch the magic that the original had made. Some of the re-recorded versions are very good and show the band's maturity over the ten years that had passed, but others don't come close to the originals. Both versions of the album feature the "original" lineup of Tracii, Phil, Steve, Mick, & Kelly.
Hollywood Vampires (1991) four stars
This album shows a darker side of LA Guns, a more glam-goth version of the band than had previously been shown. The band had gone from the sleaze of their first album to the candy ass of their second album, and back to a more serious approach. The lead song "over the edge" really shows the band's ability to stay valid in a time period when the 80's style had started to fade. The album still has plenty of funs tunes like "kiss my love goodbye" and "some lie for love" though. It is also a bit littered with radio-friendly acoustic ballads, which may or may not make the band seem weak and desperate for airplay. Overall, it is a strong release but was the last gasp of major commercial success for the band. As a note, this album was originally called something like "Department of Power" or "Power of the People" or something lame like that, and I personally think that changing the album title to the name of their fan-club and the band's alter-ego, the "Hollywood Vampires" was an awesome move. It is definitely their best album title.
This EP was only released in Japan, and features six songs that were recorded live in 1991 on the "Hollywood Vampires" tour. They have very good broadcast sound quality but it lacks the feel of a true live album because there are only six songs. It also contains two of the three ballads from the "Hollywood Vampires" album (these are not recorded live, they are the original studio album versions). This was released to the Japanese people because LA Guns were pretty successful in Japan, and the record company obviously wanted to cash in on that.
Cuts (1992) one star
This is a five song EP that was released in 1992, after the band had finished their "Hollywood Vampires" tour. It is an EP of three cover songs (the only one that is any good is their cover of David Bowie's "suffragette city") and two originals ("killer mahari" is lame, but "ain't the same" is awesome). The Japanese release had two more covers of some old punk songs, which are both tolerable. The EP suffers from poor song selection and poor layout. It was hard for me to enjoy this EP in 1993 and it is equally as hard to enjoy today, which is why it only receives one star. It just seems like a record company release more than a band release.
Vicious Circle (1994/1995) three stars
My first complaint about this album is that there is NO flow. By flow, I mean that each song is so different from the previous song. There are some heavy songs (heavier than any previous LA Guns songs), some punk songs, some ballads, some folk songs, and the album's single, "long time dead," which really doesn't fit into any of these categories. A lot of the songs are actually very good, but for each good song, there's a bad song. Most of these songs were written by the different band members during their hiatus from the previous couple of years, which is why it is so diverse. Three out of five isn't bad, but it is definitely not the band's finest hour. Somehow, this album was also the band's attempt at doing something that would be remotely successful for the time period. You can't blame them, because all of their peers were doing the exact same thing from 1993 until today.
As an "album," it is probably a three-star effort, but as an LA Guns album, it is a one-to-two-star album. This album is very different from anything LA Guns has ever released, and for that reason, it is consistently one of the lowest-rated LA Guns albums. It is very heavy (like half of "Vicious Circle") but is also very strange and almost boring. This was the first album released by the band to not feature Phil Lewis, and let's just say that Chris Van Dahl didn't really please the masses. If LA Guns' career was on a downward slope, this was the straw that crushed the camel's back. I personally think it is creative and almost pretty good, but it would have been better suited with a different band name (like Tracii's Killing Machine band and album). Ten years later, it still sounds just as out there as it did in 1996.
Wasted (1998) three and a half stars
I really can't say enough good things about singer Ralph Saenz or how he salvaged this band's career. He really fit in well with the band, and made the band about as able to be successful again as they could be in 1997 and 1998. This EP showcases what could have been, and really what should have been. The four new songs are really cool and well written, and their 'new' version of "the ballad of jayne" totally blows the original out of the water. It is a pity that this release only contains six songs, because I know that I'm not the only one who really liked Ralph singing for LA Guns. LA Guns' future was bright during this time frame, but when Ralph left the band, LA Guns almost became a joke. Jizzy Pearl was an awesome replacement (obviously), but commercially, Ralph was defiantly the next-best thing to LA Guns reuniting with Phil Lewis. As a note, this album is the first of many to have a super-lame cover, since it was the tenth anniversary of the debut LA Guns album, the band kind of copied that layout for this release. Saenz left the band just before this CD was released.
Shrinking Violet (1999) four stars
Jizzy's voice was never really 'the voice of the LA Guns' and I don't think his voice really fit LA Guns' style, but they were still great live and this is still an awesome album. I think that this is a five star album, but as an LA Guns release is only about three stars because of the huge (but not bad) difference that Jizzy's voice has from Phil's. This album is full of really cools songs that make it a great album. Again, it has a super lame album cover and they must have had a super-low budget because the layout is done really poorly.
(also released as "The Very Best of..." in Europe)
This album is not really a compilation but it is not really a new album, it's more like two EP's on one CD. It is great because it triggered the LA Guns reunion but overall it is not all that good. The recordings almost sound like demos because they are kind of raw or very under-produced. I do, however, think that most of the re-recorded versions of the old songs are really cool, with the exception of the super-suck-ass re-recorded version of 'the ballad of jayne.' The four new songs are cool but are overall not very memorable. This album, again, has a really lame album cover.
Live: A Night on the Strip (2000) three and a half stars
(also released as "Live Ammo" in Europe)
This is a really good sounding live recording with seemingly few overdubs because you can hear the band fuck up at least twice (once on 'never enough' and again on 'the ballad of jayne'). There is some editing, and the album is missing the cover of The Beatles' 'i saw her standing there,' which was performed at that show. It also suffers from poor song selection (missing some great LA Guns songs). The album cover is pretty standard for a live album, and gets the band out of that slump of super-lame covers.
This is a good, solid rock album but is not overall memorable. The one song that does stick out is 'beautiful,' and the rest of the songs do have that classic LA Guns feel and sound; none of the songs are too cheesy or lame. The album's cover and layout are awesome, and Spitfire Records really pushed this release causing it to do relatively well and make a bit of noise. The only thing that could be missing is bass player Kelly Nickels who had left the band the previous year. As a note, 'beautiful' was originally written by Phil and Brent Muscat before Phil had returned to LA Guns, and it was played live by "The Liberators" in mid-1999.
Waking the Dead (2002) five stars
This one goes to eleven! This is definitely LA Guns' strongest and one of their best albums to this day. It is heavy, creative, and has no filler songs. It is awesome from start to finish. It is well written and well produced. It contains the core of the band (Tracii and Phil, along with Steve) and newcomer Adam Hamilton on bass. This album has an awesome cover but a poor layout, and it could have done very well but was kind of ill-fated from the start. Spitfire Records didn't promote it very well, and Tracii Guns left the band only months after its release. This album was originally called "10 Nightmares," and then "Hellraiser's Ball," but the band settled on "Waking the Dead" which is a better title anyway.
LA Guns Rips the Covers Off (2004) four stars
For an album of cover songs, this one really cranks! This album has great sound and was well recorded and produced, just like 'Waking the Dead,' and a lot of the songs are memorable and stand out. The only real dud is their cover of Donovan's 'hurdy gurdy man.' Many of the songs are spectacular, and I'd just like to say their cover of Hanoi Rocks' 'until i get you' is fucking awesome. New guitarist Stacey Blades did a great job on this album. The two live bonus tracks are great as well.
This is yet another good and solid release by LA Guns. It is a bit of a concept album, based on the band's ties and experience in Hollywood. The album was given great reviews and was very well-received by LA Guns fans all over the place, but I just can't seem to get into the album. I like it just fine, just as I had liked "Man in the Moon", but I can't settle on a favorite song nor can I really tell you how great it is even after a dozen or so listens. "Tales..." gets four stars strictly based on the fact that everyone but me seems to love the CD so much, and it is a very solid record. I just think it could have been cut down to the 10 or 11 most rockin' songs and been stronger.
Loud & Dangerous (2006)
coming soon!
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I just wanted to say that my LA Guns biography was written by me,
but is not patented or copyrighted in any way, so you that means that anyone
can use it, steal it, claim it as their own, whatever.
The least you (or anyone) could do is credit me for the work, that's all I ask.
If you don't, I'll leave a big FUCK YOU on my site.