FASTER PUSSYCAT – Babylon : The Elektra Years 1987-1992 [4CD Box Set] (2022) *HQ*

As requested, here’s last year Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records 4xCD Box Set celebrating the 3 key albums + rarities from legendary hair metal glamsters FASTER PUSSYCAT during their major label time from the end of the ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Titled “Babylon : The Elektra Years 1987-1992“, the 4-disc collection include all albums remastered, a host of bonus tracks, and the EP ‘Live And Rare’ from 1990.
Forming in Hollywood in 1985, and taking their name from Russ Meyer’s 1965 exploitation trash classic, Faster! Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – Taime Downe (lead vocals), Greg Steele (guitar), Brent Muscat (guitar), Eric Stacy (bass) and Mark Michals (drums) were in the right place at the right time with their brand of sleaze rock and glam metal.

Signing to legendary record label Elektra, they released their self-titled debut on 7th July 1987 (two weeks ahead of Guns N’ Roses’ debut, ‘Appetite For Destruction’). Becoming MTV favorites with videos for the songs ‘Bathroom Wall’ and ‘Don’t Change That Song’, their fame and infamy was further propelled by appearing in the Penelope Spheeris film The Decline of Western Civilization part 2 – The Metal Years, with the band interviewed as well as performing ‘Cathouse’ and ‘Bathroom Wall’ on stage. In America the band toured with Alice Cooper, David Lee Roth and Motörhead to promote the album.

They reached a commercial peak in 1989 with second album, ‘Wake Me When It’s Over’. Featuring the singles ‘House Of Pain’ and ‘Poison Ivy’, the LP was marked by a heavier, less glam and a more hard rock approach. They also recorded a cover of Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ for the compilation album ‘Rubáiyát’, an album celebrating Elektra Records’s 40th Anniversary.

Led by the single ‘Nonstop to Nowhere’, 1992’s self-explanatory ‘Whipped!’ fared well, but despite sold out tours, the rise of grunge was turning many of Faster Pussycat’s feel-good rock contemporaries out of the industry. The band called it a day in 1993.

FASTER PUSSYCAT reformed in 2001 adopting a more modern sound favored by singer Taime Downe, and continue to tour and record with various line-ups to the present. As recently as July 2022 Faster Pussycat announced signing to a new record label with the intention of releasing new music.
This collection is a must for fans of the Sunset Strip glory days: Guns N’ Roses, Ratt, L.A. Guns, etc.
Highly Recommended

CD1: FASTER PUSSYCAT
01 – Don’t Change That Song
02 – Bathroom Wall
03 – No Room For Emotion
04 – Cathouse
05 – Babylon
06 – Smash Alley
07 – Shooting You Down
08 – City Has No Heart
09 – Ship Rolls In
10 – Bottle In Front Of Me

CD2: WAKE ME WHEN IT’S OVER
01 – When There’s A Whip, There’s A Way
02 – Little Dove
03 – Poison Ivy
04 – House Of Pain
05 – Gonna Walk
06 – Pulling Weeds
07 – Slip Of The Tongue
08 – Cryin’ Shame
09 – Tattoo
10 – Ain’t No Way Around It
11 – Arizona Indian Doll
12 – Please Dear

CD3: LIVE AND RARE
01 – Bathroom Wall (Remix)
02 – Poison Ivy (Edit)
03 – Pulling Weeds (Live)
04 – Slip Of The Tongue (Live)
05 – Babylon (Live)
06 – House Of Pain (Edit)

CD4: WHIPPED!
01 – Nonstop To Nowhere
02 – The Body Thief
03 – Jack The Bastard
04 – Big Dictionary
05 – Madam Ruby’s Love Boutique
06 – Only Way Out
07 – Maid In Wonderland
08 – Friends
09 – Cat Bash
10 – Loose Booty
11 – Mr. Lovedog
12 – Out With A Bang
BONUS TRACKS [Belted, Buckled and Booted]:
13 – Nonstop To Nowhere (CHR Version)
14 – Too Tight
15 – Charge Me Up
16 – You’re So Vain

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