Hollywood's Burning - Again
Formed back in 1983 originally with Guns & Roses front man Axl Rose, it's been a long and chequered history that has brought LA Guns to where they are today. A string of successful albums, a string of different band members and the usual tales of rock and roll excess have all been part of LA Guns story. 'Tales From The Strip' is a brand new studio album of fourteen tracks out mid August.
'Tales From The Strip' is nothing new really, it continues in the familiar LA Guns style, always more rock than metal but hard enough to appeal to a metal audience. As with many other bands of this style (think Dogs Damour, Poison etc) the slower more ballad style songs are a bit cringe worthy and this is the case with songs like 'Vampire'. On the flip side though the faster tracks are invariably much better, 'Crazy Motorcycle' being a prime example.
'6.9 Earthshaker' is an interesting track, an instrumental featuring a funky guitar riff, which is replaced by an elongated drum solo. With many of the songs being centered around the bands long association with LA's famous strip, it's no surprise that they have a song called 'Hollywood's Burning', along with another few thousand bands! Although it's not the greatest track it would be vastly improved by a different title, it's just too predictable and instantly reminds the listener that what they're listening to is neither innovative nor special.
LA Guns have enough about them to break things up every few songs (such as acoustic instrumental 'Amanecer') and there are some good choruses and riffs here. However it's also easy to see why they never emulated the success of Guns and Roses, they just don't have the amazing guitar part or vocals that would make them stand out. That said this isn't a bad album, by and large the songs are solid, very much in the tried and tested camp but if that's your bag then 'Tales From The Strip' will no doubt be a welcome addition to your stereo.