![]() 1988 made them contemporary’s of The Cult, Guns N’ Roses and The Sisters Of Mercy. The song is one of the hidden gems of it’s era. It’s as precision tooled as the layers of synth and the smoothed out low end riff. The ‘Ow’ before the solo so casually tossed out there it makes the whole thing look incidental. Those ‘Uhs’ that punctuate the riffs from the verses are pure rock and roll theater. She hangs with Alice, she fills in for Kurt, she toasts Lemmy and she still slays live. Joan Jett is still the coolest of the cool. This is a teen anthem for the not to be messed with. That slide guitar riff and that down beat delivery. She was the coolest rock star I’d ever seen. Joan’s 1988 album Up Your Alley found it’s way into my record collection pretty close to it’s release. This was the era ex-Runaways band mate Lita Ford was making 80’s heavy metal ballads with Ozzy Osbourne and getting her Deadly Kissed*. “Hey Jack, it’s a fact they’re talkin’ in town I turn my back and you’re messin’ around I’m not really jealous, don’t like lookin’ like a clown”Īfter The Runaways, after Bad Reputation, Joan had already had some hits in her own right (including the megahit I Love Rock And Roll). ![]() She’s beaming this down from Planet Cool for the rest of us to help us get through our own messy stuff. The idea that anyone would stand Joan Jett up is a scientific impossibility. “Midnight getting uptight but where are you? You said you’d meet me but it’s quarter to two” It’s slow and low and sliding around like unsecured ballast in a small fishing boat’s galley during a storm. ![]() And yet the real killer bit is the guita… is that a guitar? Is that just a guitar? Is that a synth set to Bassoon brass FX played through a guitar? Why does that axe sound so horney? The effects of Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco echoing up through the decades and into 1988. Those slowed down 70’s glam rock drums and hand claps are pure glitter scene. Though remaking all-time classic tracks like Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night," Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You," and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" may seem like musical heresy to some fans, the actors and musicians imbue the proceedings with a sense of fun and party-time abandon that keeps the pyrotechnic fires of '80s rock burning bright all the way down the Great Whitesnake Way.How can something so 80’s, so smoothed off and over produced sound so gutteral? Led by Constantine Maroulis, best known as the sixth runner-up on the 2005 season of American Idol, and Lauren Molina (Sweeny Todd), the cast does a fine job of mixing the bombastic flavor of the original songs with a lighthearted sense of Broadway cheese in a manner that often recalls the best moments of Grease. ![]() And Justice for All), and the veteran engineer gives extra sonic heft to the recordings, resulting in one of the few cast albums that actually rocks. The original Broadway cast recording was mixed by Michael Barbiero ( Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and Metallica's. ![]() Though on paper a Broadway musical incorporating 1980s arena rock songs into a comedic love story sounded like a long shot, Rock of Ages became a surprise hit, striking just the right mix of nostalgia, outright silliness, and healthy respect for the glory of big hair hits. ![]()
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