Tag: Four the Hard Way

The Collection: Ep. 53 – Paul Laine (Danger Danger, The Defiants and so much more)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic4 Comments

This week on The Collection, we are talking one of my all time favorite singers and one of the nicest guys in the world…Paul Laine. I’ve followed Paul since his debut solo album in 1990 all the way to today through his bands Danger Danger, The Defiants, Dark Horse, Shugaazer and everything else. We go through his catalog so join me and I hope you discover something you’ve been missing.

So go check it out as it will be live tonight at 7pm, April 21, 2025 on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And if you want to watch the Interview I did with Mike Ladano 4 years ago with Paul Laine, check it out below…it was a blast!!

My Sunday Song – “Captain Bring Me Down” By Danger Danger

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

For My Sunday Song #412, we are going to discuss the song “Captain Bring Me Down” by Danger Danger. The song was off their fourth album called ‘Four the Hard Way’ and written by Paul Laine and fellow bandmate, Bruno Ravel. For the song, you had Paul on vocals and on keyboard, Bruno on bass, Tony Bruno on guitar and Steve West on drums. I don’t believe the song was a single, but it might be the best song on the album and the most saddest of stories.

The story behind the song is a little heart wrenching. In an interview Mike Ladano and I did with Paul, I brought up this song and mentioned it was my favorite on the album and Paul graciously told the story of the song despite how personal the song was to him. He was working with a friend of his on his friend’s album and they were sharing stories together of how they were both bullied when they were kids and in school. After working on the album, his friend, Randy, went to visit his brother and ended up doing heroin with his brother and died. Paul was moved by the stories he and Randy had discussed on bullying and turned it in to a song. It is about meeting your bullies years later and they treat you like you are best friends. They were the cool kids and school and now they drown their sorrows in alcohol.

The song opens with Paul’s keyboards and Tony on acoustic guitar. The keyboards are like violins and string orchestration and are so powerful sounding. The vibe is somber and the tempo is slow and the lyrics hit you right in the heart and the stomach. The percussion and drums on the song were used perfectly as emphasis of the sadness. The guitar solo is so tasteful and played for the song as it is not a time to showboat. So well done. Paul delivers one of his best vocal performances on this album with this song as he makes you feel every word and every note. I have never listened to this song the same way after I heard Paul’s story. It was great before, but now it is one of the best songs I think he has ever done.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Captain Bring Me Down” By Danger Danger” →

Paul Laine – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic16 Comments

After doing the Danger Danger Album Ranking, I thought why not continue and do all of Paul Laine’s albums as well.  So, here we are with Paul Laine’s albums ranked Worst to First!.  Who is Paul Laine you might ask?  I will tell you.

Paul is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer from Vancouver, Canada.  He started out as a solo artist way back in 1990 and later joined the band Danger Danger as their lead singer.  He also formed a band called Shugaazer, a band called Darkhorse and a band called The Defiants.  He likes band names that start with “D” except for Shugaazer so not sure what he was thinking there.

Paul is a gifted singer and sings mostly Rock and his voice has matured nicely over the years.  It has gone from a wild-untamed sound to a more controlled, smooth instrument.  And he has even delved into Country music (more on that later).

I have followed his career from the beginning thanks to working at Sam Goody back in 1990.  His CD came in to the store as a promo copy (and I played it a lot) and when it was time for that CD to retire from the playlist, yours truly got to take it home with him.  It was from that point on, that Paul could do no wrong (even though he has had a few missteps).

It is out of that fandom, I bring you this list.  Enjoy!!

THE WORST – ANDERSEN, LAINE, READMAN – THREE (2006):

This is an interesting side project from Andre Andersen.  Andre is the keyboardist and composer in the band Royal Hunt.  Andre brought in two sensational voices to split the songs.  You have David Readman of Pink Cream 69 and Paul Laine.  They each get 5 songs and for the most part the songs rock and as a set is pretty cool.

Continue reading “Paul Laine – The Albums Ranked Worst to First” →

Danger Danger – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic20 Comments

It all started for me back in 1990 when I saw Danger Danger open up for Kiss.  I was really impressed by their stage performance and the songs.  I had to check them out.  They were touring in support of their debut, self-titled album which was released in 1989 and I went out and bought it within that week after the show.  I have followed their career ever since.

The band has had two lead singers (they had another prior to any album coming out, but doesn’t count for this list and since I am not including the “Rare Cuts” compilation).  The first for me was Ted Poley.  He is currently the lead singer again.  From the mid-90’s to early ’00’s, the singer was Paul Laine.  Each have 3 studio album and a cool combo set included in this list for a total of 7 albums ranked.  No live albums or any compilations included.

The classic line-up for me is Bruno Ravel (bass/guitar), Steve West (drums), Andy Timmons (guitar), Kasey Smith (Keyboards) and Ted Poly (vocals).  When they switched out with Paul Laine (vocals) I was perfectly happy as he was a great singer and I loved his debut album ‘Stick It In Your Ear’.  The line-up has change over the years, but Bruno and Steve have been the constants.

The band is a story of two different bands.  The beginning was all having a good time, full of fun and excitement with songs about Sex, Sex, Rock & Roll and more Sex…did I mention sex??  Then they became more serious tone, with a more mature sound and flat out better song writing.  Both bands I liked equally as they each brought something to the table.  I think they are worth checking out, but they might not be everyone’s cup of tea.  I hope you enjoy…

WORST – REVOLVE (2009):

 

 

Continue reading “Danger Danger – The Albums Ranked Worst to First” →