In today's review, an album full of virtuosity, melancholy and finesse: White Lion's Pride (1987). The late eighties were a time of excess where outrageous demonstration of virility were mixed with ridiculous and colorful outfits with an unhealthy amount of teased hair. Amidst a market that slowly started to get saturated and where every new band in town tried to be the new Crüe, entered White Lion.
Heading into the summer, I'll get a chance to take some records off the shelves that evoke the season for me. Ratt's first full-on LP Out Of The Cellar is one of them, thanks to an infectious series of hits that are best listened to while driving down the coastal highway under the generous Californian sunshine.
Theatre Of Pain is an interesting album in the career of the Crüe. Released in June 1985, it cemented the Los Angeles quartet as one of the hottest act of the decade thanks in no small part to the Brownsville Station's cover "Smokin' In the Boys Room" and the power ballad "Home Sweet Home" that launched a trend for the remaining of the eighties.
Ah Rebel Yell, what an album! I consider Billy Idol's career a little uneven although every effort he put out from '82 to '90 contains at least one classic but his second solo album definitely is a special record. Let's see here: "Rebel Yell," "Flesh for Fantasy," "Eye Without a Face" as the obvious singles, backed by some guitar fueled killers such as "Daytime Drama," "Crank Call" or "Do Not Stand In The Shadow."
White Lights on Mad Music 