Tag: Stick It In Your Ear

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

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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 – “We Are The Young” by Paul Laine

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We are to the final My Sunday Song of the 10 Song set on Paul Laine. We are also to the Final My Sunday Song as I am putting it on hold for a little while. I’ve done 420 of these on Sundays in a row, that is quite a lot. Time to do reviews that are backing up because of the Bon Jovi and Def Leppard Series taking up so much time.

For My Sunday Song #420, we get to the final Paul Laine song and we go back to his 1990 debut album ‘Stick It In Your Ear’. The song to end his series is “We Are the Young” which was not a single here in the U.S, but I think it was in Canada where it broke the Top 40 briefly. Why it wasn’t in the States, I have not idea, but it was one of many on this album that could’ve been a single here. The song was written by Paul Laine and produced by the late, great Bruce Fairbairn…that should be enough right there to make you pay attention.

The song is about being young where everything is new and fresh and the world is at your fingertips. You can be whatever you want to be if you go out and grab it as you are wild, young and free. Don’t let anyone hold you back and fight for whatever you want to be. In the story, someone is holding him back and feeling him with lies, but he sees the truth and is ready to break free. So, don’t let anyone hold you back, go out there and take the world on with both hands and make your life you own.

The song opens with dual guitars, one with a cool crunchy guitar riff and the other a little melody, both speed a long at 100 mph. It is a brilliant rock anthem and I could see this blasted at concerts with full audience participation. The guitar break on this is extensive and the solo is just an onslaught of frenzied fingers flying on the frets. The song has some progressive rock undertones as the style changes up a little, but the essence of the song is contained. And that scream Paul does in the middle of that break…holy crap! It is awesome. It is guitar heavy, rock perfection and Paul gives it his all and sounds like the rock god he dreamed to be on that outro a la Robert Plant. This is what it sounds like when you are young and hungry to succeed.

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My Sunday Song – “Dorianna” by Paul Laine

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For My Sunday Song #411, we are back to me picking the songs after a year of other people picking tracks. This next 10 song set will highlight songs from throughout the career of one of my favorite singers, Paul Laine. He has a new solo album coming out this year, so I figured it was time to celebrate Mr. Laine. We will go through his solo stuff and his work with Danger Danger, The Defiants and so much more. First up is the ballad “Dorianna” off his debut album ‘Stick It In Your Ear” which was produced by the late, great Bruce Fairbairn. The song was released in 1990 and was the first single from the album. The song went to #76 in his home country of Canada, but did not chart down here in the states. And it should’ve had.

The song was written by Paul Laine and seems to talk about the loss of relationship. One filled with promises made and never kept. A heartbreaking look at a love that ended suddenly and he is having a hard time excepting it. He misses her greatly and is holding on now to a memory. He will always love her, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“Dorianna” is the first of several ballads on the album. This ballad brings the power to the power ballad. It opens with the church organ keyboards before Paul’s stunning vocals come softly in with the first verse. He pulls out all the emotion the song requires and you will feel the love he has lost. The guitar work on this is amazing as well and it has a solo that fits the song perfectly. There is a dramatic break towards the end of the song that has some cool keyboard effects accompanying the guitar that take the song over the top and the drums on this thing are so powerful as you feel every beat. Whenever you get to the chorus, you can’t help but scream out her name as well. The song has a great groove and is very catchy and will stick in your head for days.

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Paul Laine – ‘Stick It In Your Ear’ (1990) -Album Review

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Imagine this, you are extremely young and you get a record deal. You are set to make your first album and the label picks the great Bruce Fairbairn to produce your album. How stoked you must be. You are about to make it big time and be famous worldwide and be the big rock star you were meant to be. All your dreams were about to come true. I am sure that was what Paul Laine was thinking…I know I would have been.

But for some strange reason, that didn’t happen with this album. However, Paul would go on to make it in the industry and he is still very active today and I bet makes a pretty good living with his music. I don’t know why this album didn’t take off, but for some reason it didn’t. It was 1990 and we were at the tail end of the 80’s Rock scene and Grunge was coming on fast so I am writing it off to that as the issue because it sure as hell wasn’t the music’s fault.

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Paul Laine – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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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.

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