POISON – Flesh & Blood [LTD Japan SHM-CD Remastered] (2015)

A couple months ago we presented here the first batch of Universal Records Japan reissue campaign of various ’80s Rock artists / albums from their back catalog on high quality SHM-CD, all remastered, with bonus tracks and with an affordable, reduced price.
Among these artists is POISON, and their multi-Platinum third album “Flesh & Blood” featuring 2 bonus tracks.

After the glammy, hair metal party of the band’s two previous efforts, “Flesh & Blood” was Poison’s ‘get serious’ album, and one of the strongest of their career.
The idea was to write and record more mature music and lyrics, something that guitarist C.C. DeVille was opposed to. He saw nothing wrong with the glam-slam-king-of-noize direction that they started on, and maintained that Look What the Cat Dragged In was their high point. He saw the introduction of more classic hard rock blues influences as diluting the Poison sound he liked.
However, “Flesh & Blood” is the best thing C.C. has done, and ultimately he was very happy with the result.

Take the opening track “Valley of Lost Souls” for example (preceded by intro called “Strange Days of Uncle Jack”). “Valley” rocks heavy with integrity and an edge that Poison hadn’t displayed before, and C.C. throws in a lot of tasty, toffee-like strings. His soloing will never be considered virtuoso and his tone has always been straight to the point, but never has C.C. generated such guitar thrills as he does on this album.
I’m sure that producer Bruce Fairbairn steered this ship with a firm hand. His stamp is all over “Flesh & Blood”: from weird segues to rich backing vocals, this is a Fairbairn production through and through.

Fairbairn was known to be a taskmaster, and I’m sure he worked C.C. (and the whole band) to the bone. The title track, “(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice” has his patented, perfectly arranged vocal stamp. The vocals are layered and almost Leppard-lush. This is the second excellent song in a row, so say what you like about Poison as performers, but they wrote some darn good songs too.
Then you have the smash hit “Unskinny Bop”, the pop metal staple in any strip club around the world to this day.

“Let It Play” is simple but memorably melodic, then arrives another favorite of mine: the timeless sounding midtempo “Life Goes On”. I loved this bombastic electric semi power ballad then, and I still do now. A classic.

Then, the fun party side of Poison remained intact on the album with “Ride the Wind”, a no-brainer. This track sounds like its title, like a ‘driving a car’ song, a rock and roll ode to the thrills of the road. I’d rank this easily among Poison’s best hits — top five.
Another terrific cut is “Something to Believe In”, also a successful single / video. Bret Michaels wrote some pretty good lyrics here (about his best friend who died “in some Palm Springs hotel room”). Really heartfelt, and another Poison’s best tunes ever.

We have a new highlight with “Life Loves a Tragedy”, this song shoulda woulda coulda been a hit. The soft intro fools you into thinking it’s a ballad. It’s not but a ballsy rocker with another Bret Michaels lyric that you’d call more mature:
“My vices have turned to habits, and my habits have turned to stone,” sings Bret. “I gotta stop living at a pace that kills, ‘fore I wake up dead.” Not poetry really, but really authentic. The chorus kills, as does the whole song.
Another top five Poison track in my book.

This fresh Japanese edition on SHM-CD sounds excellent, and I think the remaster has given much more punch to “Flesh & Blood”.
We have two bonus tracks; one is an acoustic version of “Something to Believe In” from the Life Goes On single B-side. It has new lyrics and C.C. adding nylon guitar melodies over the acoustic background. Nice version.
Lastly there’s “God Save the Queen”, an instrumental variation of the Sex Pistols song turned ‘sleazy’ with hard rocking riffs and smashing drumming. Cool.
Great album, great remaster, nice price.
Highly Recommended.

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【SHM-CD / UICY-25535】

01 – Strange Days Of Uncle Jack
02 – Valley Of Lost Souls
03 – (Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice
04 – Swampjuice (Soul-O)
05 – Unskinny Bop
06 – Let It Play
07 – Life Goes On
08 – Come Hell Or High Water
09 – Ride The Wind
10 – Don’t Give Up An Inch
11 – Something To Believe In
12 – Ball And Chain
13 – Life Loves A Tragedy
14 – Poor Boy Blues
BONUS TRACKS:
15 – Something To Believe In (Acoustic Version)
16 – God Save The Queen (Demo)

Bret Michaels – vocals, guitars
C.C. DeVille – lead guitar
Bobby Dall – bass, piano on Something to Believe In
Rikki Rockett – drums
with:
John Webster – keyboards
Paul Laine (Danger Danger), Marc LaFrance – backing vocals

BUY IT !
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICY-25535
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