The Catz Ass

Right now, I'm listening to this Roseville, Michigan band called The Catz Ass and its CD "Ride This". And I just cannot believe a band could release something as 80s as this in the year 1997. Yup, this is 80s style sleaze/glam hard rock (or else I wouldn't be commenting on it here) as it could be. Everything that you would expect from a typical sleaze band, you would find it here except for some boring fillers. I'm very happy to say that "Ride This" doesn't have even a single weak song in it. Even the ballad "Mother Dear", I liked very much. It started off as a generic hair band ballad that has some acoustic guitar in the start but the sound got big and it would pull you, whether you like it or not with it. Even the guitar solo on that added to its appeal. The song "D-Bad" has the lyrics: "...I'm feeling good without doing bad! (or atleast that's what I understand)", now that is entirely a different world when it comes to sleaze/glam when everyone wants to be a bad boy. "Still Waiting" is another enjoying track. Simple songwriting worked wonders on the 8th track "With Love" and great cover of The Monkees' song on "Last Train To Clarksville".

One more good thing about this is that this is easily available for download on motorcityrock.com. But with an album like this, I'd prefer to have an original copy. I'd hunt it on eBay.

Derek Frigo and Enuff Z'Nuff

Much have been written about Derek Frigo's death in 2004 on apparent drug overdose and his band Enuff Z'Nuff but not about his virtuosity. Currently, I'm listening to Enuff Z'Nuff's self-titled debut (which pushes me to write about them) and really enjoying it. It can be said that the band belongs to the "hair metal"/"hair band" crop of the 80s but the music herein is not like what you expect from your ordinary hair band. When I first got a hold and listened to this CD, my first thought that they don't have that "take-a-look-at-us, we're-bad-boys" attitude. Some may even say that the album is boring for it's not choked-full with fast songs about sex, drugs and rock n'roll. Though it also has some fast moments like Hot Little Summer Girl, Little Indian Angel and Kiss The Clown, you'll know that they are not after what the other "glam bands" like Nitro and even the great Shotgun Messiah are after. This is not who can play the most notes in the most bizzare way, what can of sleazy environment they live in and how many drugs they've already taken but about song writing. Theirs is a reminder of the Beatles. I absolutely love the lyrics in "For Now" with lines that go: "... for now you are the sale, there is no other buy". And Derek's playing didn't overcome any songs unlike that of other virtuoso guitarists' songs, he just played FOR the songs. And one thing that really pissed me off is that he's not as respected as others who have less talent but more popular than him. Tell me how many times you've seen Warren DeMartini on the cover of some guitar magazine and how many times you've seen even just a small article about Derek Frigo.

The way I put it why this album didn't become a monster seller is that it is way more than the average "hair metal"/"hair band" fan could ever enjoy.

The Stand

Happy New Year! It's been months since I last updated this blog and it's about time. Probably, I'll make it a New Year's Resolution to update this more frequently. Okey, to start off 2009 I decided to give some comments and opinion about this little known band from the 80s called The Stand. There are some wrong informations going around about this band and album if you ever find this in the internet. First off, this band is not Canadian. They're Americans. And the songs here are not set of demos but are properly recorded ones. And that this band recorded 2 more albums namely "Heartbreak Town" and "In Three Days". The said titles were recorded by a band that also goes by the name The Stand. Yes, there were at least 2 bands in the late 80s-early 90s playing under this name (don't know what the hell is in this name that these bands crazy about). The other The Stand was fronted by musician/producer Tony Valenziano. The band that recorded this self-titled album was from WV as this album was recorded in Studio L in Weirton, WV. And this album was produced by the studio's owner. He's the one who confirmed the facts that I wrote about about this band. I asked him if this band ever recorded anything other than this album and his answer was NO. This is the only recording of this band. As I don't want to devulge names in this blog to keep matters safe but one thing that readers can do to clarify and confirm these facts are to hunt for this CD and look for the name of the producer. Use the internet and it won't be that hard of a hunt.

And as for the music, it's AOR/80s style Hard Rock. There's this one song here entitled "Dare To Be Different" that reminded me of Glass Tiger(?), but most are rockers like "You're It" (which starts off with drums and piano keys - with the vocalist asking for them to be louder) and "Chains of Love". Overall, I really like this CD. Not the greatest indie out there but once you see this, grab it!