This week we talk move on to the 90’s and first up is a Glam Metal / Hair Band era little nugget. It is the epitome of everything that was wrong with the era, but does that mean it was bad…check it out to see. It is the 1991 release for Danger Danger called ‘Screw It!’. Does Ted Poly, Bruno Ravel, Andy Timmons, Steve West and Kasey Smith suffer from the Sophomore Slump or do they hit it out of the park? This rock era was about to die a fast sudden death and I hated to see it die, but it need to die I guess. We will find out if this is worth your time or not so join me as I walk through the album song by song.
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For My Sunday Song #418, we are talking about Danger Danger’s song “Wide Awake And Dead” off the band’s third album ‘Dawn’ from 1995. Technically, their fourth recorded, but third release but that is a story for another time. The song was written by Paul Laine and Bruno Ravel. Although not a single, the song was one that connected to me for its dark tone and subject matter.
The song is about some major daddy issues. The child is in pain but the dad doesn’t seem to ever listen to him and care. It was as if no father was ever there. The darkness has filled the boy and he is ready to kill his father. The emptiness he feels has left him emotionless. He is wide awake, but dead inside. It is a horrible situation. Read the lyrics below and see how dark this thing gets. No child should ever feel that way.
The music matches the lyrics. This is 1995, the music scene had taken a darker turn from the party time of the 80’s and the earlier Danger Danger albums. To fit with the times, we get this brilliant song. The more somber tones, the heavier beats, the rich bass all giving to the dark soulless feelings of this little child. The guitar solo screams out with pain. If that isn’t enough, the guitar riff from Bruno that is thrown in every now again after the chorus is so cool. Paul’s vocals show the hurt and despair the child is feeling. There is a spoken part from Paul that is hidden behind the instrumental break that you have to listen close. It gives you more insight to the song. For such a depressing song, you can’t helped but be mesmerized by its beauty at the same time. One of the coolest songs on the album.
My Sunday Song #415, we are back to Danger Danger and this time around “Six Million Dollar Man” off the band’s fifth album ‘The Return of the Great Gildersleeves. The album is from 2000 and the song was written by Paul Laine, Bruno Ravel and Steve West. It wasn’t a single, but maybe that was a missed opportunity.
The song is from the big nerd side of Paul. I mean you have to be a nerd to write a song about the “Six Million Dollar Man”. Now, he admitted that he was one to me. He had been writing songs for his next album not expecting there to be another Danger Danger album and lo and behold, they did another one and this song wound up on it. There is no hidden meaning behind the song, it is truly about the TV show and even has a shout out to Jamie Summers and Oscar Goldman.
The song has the lines from the T.V. show…”Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better…stronger…faster.” And no, they didn’t get permission to use the audio from the show. Shhh…don’t tell anyone. The song is a rocker, party anthem with killer, powerful drumming by Steve West and some killer guitar work from Bruno and I think the solo was actually done by Paul. He also handled the keys and vocals. There are a lot of electronic, sci-fi type sounds with lasers and robots. The song is meant for fun and delivers in spades.
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.
Alright…You Picked It! And this one really surprised me as I didn’t expect this one to get picked or many votes at all. But I am glad it did as I do enjoy this one a lot! A guilty pleasure you could say. The winner was Danger Danger’s 1991 album ‘Screw It!’ which is one I do have in my collection. Here are the results.
Danger Danger – ‘Screw It!’ – 9 votes
Neil Young – ‘After the Gold Rush – 5 votes
Halestorm – ‘Back from the Dead’ – 4 votes
Boston – ‘Boston’ – 3 Votes
Miranda Lambert – ‘Revolution’ – Sadly, 0 votes
Thanks to all for participating. The July choices will be up on Saturday!
DANGER DANGER – ‘SCREW IT!’:
Danger Danger’s second album was not a repeat of their debut, but an improvement. It was more polished, more naughty and well…more everything. They recorded at in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl at New River Studios where Skid Row recorded their album ‘Slave to the Grind’. The funny thing is both bands put out singles called “Monkey Business” in the same year. Danger Danger was going to call their album ‘Monkey Business’, but changed their mind. I think they had trouble finding a name for the album and they said screw it! So, that became the name of the album ‘Screw It!’. And based on the lyrics in the album, there is a lot of that going on.
The band Danger Danger consists of lead singer, Ted Poley, guitarists Andy Timmons, Kasey Smith on keyboards, Bruno Ravel on bass and Steve West on drums. These guys were awesome. They were a true hair metal band and their music was the epitome of the genre. It was rude, crude, and anthem rocked out. It was one of the most sexualized albums I have ever heard and yet, even in today’s #MeToo Movement, I lover every minute of it. There is no denying their target audience with this one…young teenage boys…who had hot chicks as friends. I first heard of them because in 1990, they opened for Kiss. After I got that taste, I went and bought the debut and then was a day one shopper when this was released and I have loved it ever since. In fact, it is my #1 album on their Worst to First Ranking. I guess I have now spoiled the review…oh well…here it goes anyway.
Recently, I looked up the definition of the word “fun” in the Oxturd Dictionary and it told me the definition was “to be Defiant”. I thought that sounded about right. So, how could I be defiant. Well, the quickest and easiest way was to pick up the latest release by the band The Defiants. I figured that fit the bill of “fun” quite nicely.
And I was right!
The band consists of three members all stemming from the band Danger Danger. They are Bruno Ravel on bass, Rob Marcello on guitar and Paul Laine on vocals. And to make the Danger Danger connection even stronger, drummer Steve West filled in on the kit for this recording. Since Danger Danger still exists with lead singer Ted Poley, they couldn’t use that name so they came up with their own.
‘Zokusho’ is the band’s second album and the word actually means “sequel” or “next chapter” in Japanese which is actually what this record is. The band picks up right where they left off on their debut. If you liked 80’s rock and the whole melodic rock scene, let me tell you that it doesn’t get much better than this.
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…
2 Loud 2 Old Music 