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When you think back to the hey-days of Hair Metal, a few things stand
out. Number one, great music. But besides the long hair, incessant
partying, people running around singing “if you have the clap
and you know it clap your hands,” there were bands who nailed
down impressive names. Bands like Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue,
Poison, Skid Row … and one that might have slipped past you,
Spread Eagle. Another thing these aforementioned bands had in common
is that they made stellar music that could stand the test of Grunge
and time. If you didn’t get on the Spread Eagle bandwagon first
time around, they have re-released their 1990 self-titled CD, and
it encapsulates everything about this kind of metal that ruled the
roost.
The band consists of singer Ray West, Paul DiBartolo on guitar, Rob
DeLuca on bass and Tommi Gallo on drums. While only utilizing one
guitarist, their sound is immense, and it makes you think there has
to be two guitars going on. Dokken was a band who could fill a venue
with their mammoth sound using only one guitarist (cuz George Lynch
is a legend), and Spread Eagle’s music isn’t all that far
behind. If you had to pinpoint their sound, it’d be like a cross
between Skid Row and Love/Hate.
Spread Eagle begins with “Broken City,” a song with
a Billy Squire-ish opening riff. When West opens his maw to sing,
you are in for a treat. This guy can wail, howl, sing and scream with
the best of them. “Broken City” is different kind of song,
one that doesn’t get into the opening verse until 1:20 into the
track. West just snarls the pre-chorus as he screams, “People
call this living Hell … I call this Broken City home!” While
the riffs are somewhat brutal and heavy, the solo is oddly melodic,
in a good way. DiBartolo plays a screaming solo — everything
about this song is good.
You may remember their biggest hit, “Switchblade Serenade.”
It was a great song back in 1990, and still is today. It begins with
a somewhat ominous and bluesy rhythm passage, and the guitar cuts
with in West singing the chorus as the opening lines of the track.
Really, you have to just say this sounds like Skid Row, but not EXACTLY
like them. DiBartolo rips through another impressive solo here, and
the harmonies on the chorus are just huge. You may remember this video,
which was all over “The Headbanger’s Ball” back in
the day.
Now, Hair Metal sort of had to die, and songs like “Hot Sex”
almost prove that argument for you. Try on these lyrics: “The
only thing that I ever really think about, I think about sex all the
time. Your affection, for my injection, is on my one track mind.”
That’s just brutally funny, but they probably weren’t going
for that. The song itself pumps, it’s groovy, and West screams
his ass off.
A much better song, “Dead of Winter,” shows how good these
guys were. You can also compare Spread Eagle to a band like Slik Toxic.
There is absolutely no reason why Spread Eagle and Slik Toxic didn’t
break out like some of the other Hair Metal bands, who had a mere
fraction of the talent heard here.
“Thru’ These Eyes” is their mandatory hair ballad,
and it’s commendable, but not what they do best. Spread Eagle
is really more of a sleazy and rockin’ band, so hearing West
croon, “God in Heaven, I’ll tell you why I’ve grown
so cold. It’s the things that I’ve seen, through these eyes,”
doesn’t quite fit. The song does tear things up at the end, and
while not as good as some of the other tracks, it’s still strong.
It’s always an iffy tactic to name a song after the name of your
band, but hey, when your name is “Spread Eagle,” you’d
be a fool not to! You can probably make up the chorus to this one
yourself, but if you can’t, it goes something like, “When
you’re lying on the floor spread eagle! I love to watch when
you’re going down … to the ground!” It’s a song
about debauchery and excesses, and they do this sort of thing well.
Fun and heavy as hell, “Spread Eagle” is worthy.
There are a lot of bands re-releasing music that wasn’t worth
hearing the first time around. You’d be cartoonishly remiss if
you missed Spread Eagle the first time around and don’t pick
up this CD today.
www.lovemberrecords.com
Track
listing:
1. Broken City
2. Back On The Bitch
3. Switchblade Serenade
4. Hot Sex
5. Suzy Suicide
6. Dead Of Winter
7. Scratch Like A Cat
8. Thru These Eyes
9. Spread Eagle
10. 42nd Street
11. Shotgun Kisses
HRH
Rating: 7.9/10
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