American Hair Bands Vol. 1 (Street Date: November 5, 2002)- Inspired by my brother Josh Brown's service to his country as an MP with the U.S. Army (serving both in Camp X-Ray in 2002, and in the Iraqi War in 2003), this collection of cover tunes from the 1970s and 1980s hard rock and heavy metal scene featured a combination of new and reissued material from our collective catalog. Approximately 5 new tracks, as well as several from The Second Coming: A Millennium Tribute, which is not part of our formal Soundscan catalog under our distribution deal with Big Daddy Music Distribution. Released in part as a tribute to September 11, 2001, this record was largely a symbolic release, with ambitions only to honor the music and the USA.
Track Listing:
1. Live Wire- The Fakes
2. When Its Love - Richard Kendrick
3. Freewheel Burning- Cage
4. Yankee Rose- Enuff Znuff
5. Photograph- Straitjacket Smile
6. Firewoman - Jizzy Pearl
7. I Hate Myself for Loving You- Cookie
8. I Don't Know- Premonition
9. Wild Flower - Gilby Clarke
10. Under the Blade - American Dog
11. I Love the Dead- O.C.D.
12. Sweet Soul Sister - Jimmy Crespo
13. Don't Believe a Word - Southern Rock Allstars
14. Sweet Emotion- B.F.E.
15. Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love- Jet Black Joy
16. Highway to Hell- Crash & Burn
17. Shout at the Devil - G-Soul
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reviews:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Guitar Mania.ca- November, 2002 Review of American Hair Bands Vol. 1
Guitar Mania - Review
"American Hair bands Vol. 1" (Various Artists)
Bang your Head, pump your fist because American Hair Metal Vol. 1 has
arrived!! From four alarm fire shredding to straight up rock melodies, this
tribute CD covers all grounds. The CD is in the same vein as past Versailles
Record releases, combining an all star cast of musicians performing memorable
tunes from yester year. This time around it is the "Big Hair" 80's
that provides the inspiration for the all star cast to strut their stuff.
This is a good time party CD that pays homage to some of our all time favorite
artists from the era of spandex and leather.
The CD has Enuff Znuff performing "Yankee Rose", Jizzy Pearl kicking
ass on the Cult's "Fire Woman" and Dave Hlubek riffing out on the
Thin Lizzy tune "Don't Believe A Word". Another highlight is the
very cool Jet Black Boy performing a Van Halen classic "Ain't Talkin'
About love" - slamin dude!!
With an all star cast like what Versailles Records has assembled for this
CD, it is destined to be a classic. I have to give Versailles Records a fist
pumping high five for assembling some of the best-of-the-best musicians to
perform on this CD of 80's madness. Be sure to check this one out - no party
should be without a copy of American Hair Bands Vol. 1!! Rock On!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rock and a Hard Place- November, 2002 Review of American Hair Bands Vol. 1
AMERICAN HAIR BANDS VOL. 1
"The Best Of 1970s/80's Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Anthems!"
The way everyone bitches about cover-songs, I'm surprised they keep making these compilations. I'm one of those that enjoy hearing other's interpretations of songs, so bring em' on! I'll admit that I used to get upset if the songs strayed too far from the original, now I seem to look for tracks that take the song in a different direction.
This compilation is relatively safe, in other words, fans of the originals won't be offended for the most part. There's a couple that actually equal the originals, those being Cage's version of Priest's "Freewheel Burning" and American Dog doing Twisted Sister's "Under The Blade". The Fakes take on Motley Crue's "Live Wire" is right up there as well. It's a souped up version with some modern elements that ads to the song.
On the other end of the spectrum, Nu-Metal band G-Soul, who I actually like a lot, didn't do justice to another Motley tune "Shout At The Devil". I'm sorry, but the versus just weren't made for rapping.
One of the more interesting tracks is Cookie's version of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You". They have a rockabilly flare to them and speed up the song dramatically. I don't know if I like it or not, but it's done very well and is certainly an interesting take on the song. Two other tracks that vary from the originals are Jet Black Joy's "Ain't Talkin' About Love" and "Highway To Hell" from Crash And Burn. Both are more punk versions of the classic tunes that work pretty well. Jet Black Joy's version is produced better and they aren't a true Punk act like Crash And Burn.
There's a number of tracks that are of good quality, even if they aren't exactly "daring", they are certainly worth the listen. Enuff Z' Nuff doing David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose" is a prime example. It says Donnie Vie is doing vocals but he's never sounded like this before, instead of his normal melodic delivery he's growling and sneering, a must for their fans. Jizzy Pearl does a great job with The Cult's "Fire Woman" (one of three Cult songs on the CD). Gilby Clarke's "Wild Flower" was a little to watered down for my tastes, and the Jimmy Crespo/Paul Shortino cover of "Sweet Soul Sister" was a bit too slickly produced. Neither were bad, they just missed the emotion of the originals.
There are some fillers on the album, as there always are, but with 17 tracks, I applaud them for doing their best to give the fans a ton of music to sink their teeth into. For fans of the bands who are covered, or the bands doing the covering, this is a pretty damn good one for the collection.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Electric Basement.com November, 2002 Review of American Hair Bands Vol.1-
VARIOUS ARTISTS - American Hair Bands: The Best of 70s/80s Hard Rock/Hevay Metal Anthems!
(Versailles)
While the tribute album days are fading fast, there is still a few hearts
beating the rhythm of regurgitation...or is it heart burn? Actually, some
trib efforts aren't so bad and are deserved. Versailles has unleashed a few
hot and many not, but at least you can recognize the names playing musical
chairs - Enuff Z'nuff, Gilby Clarke, Jizzy Pearl, Paul Shortino etc. Some
you may not. Basically, this is a compilation of tribute album tracks, most
of which are competent if not entirely inspired. In a weird way it is interesting
to hear these things atleast once. I admit I enjoy Pearl belting out "Firewoman"
and Cage absolutely rips through "Freewheel Burnin'. But will it warrant
repeated listens? Probably not many. The production is too dry and often suffocated
by low budgetary confinements. Also, few, if any of these offer much in the
way of killer reinterpretations. If you dig this stuff, you dig it. If you
don't, you don't. - Brian Coles
____________________________________________________________________________________________________