ROCKY SHADES’ WILDSIDE RIOT – No Second Take (2013)

the REAL one, No cuts

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If you were a teenager in the eighties deciding which chick on the front cover of Poison’s ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’ you and your mates wanted to shag, no doubt you’ll be familiar with Wrathchild UK.

Formed in 1980, they are indeed the sleaze glam metal ‘Godfathers’ in UK, and fronted by the charismatic Rocky Shades filled the gap between Poison and Kiss with fashion tips from Judas Priest.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, Rocky is back and he’s got one hell of a band along for the ride; WILDSIDE RIOT and their debut album “No Second Take”.

Wildside Riot is exactly what you’d expect from the Godfather of Glam: sleaze ridden guitars, ripping solos like a bare-chested bitch on a greased-up pole, swaggering vocals and gang-like choruses.

But WR sleaze is not dirty ‘n’ nasty, it’s quite polished with an updated Hard Rock sound, even on some tracks flirting with Melodic Rock, and that’s a good thing in my book. From the blues-soaked and raunchy “Candiis Gone Bad” to the catchy chorus of “That’s What Sunday Mornings Are For”’ the Riot boys have nailed it firmly on the head.

Injecting some long lost ingredients of the past to a palette for today is a difficult thing to pull off, but the gall and determination of Rocky Shades ensures that this objetive is achieved in this recording.

Surrounding himself with a band of trashy brother’s lead six-stringer Joss Riot, complemented by Jimmy Gunn ensure the twelve string attack is precise and punchy.

The formidable rhythm section of Gaz Wilde’s drums and James Crofts’ bass adds a solid colossal sound to proceedings which elevates the impact. With the spirit of the Sunset Strip oozing out of every sweaty bandanna, the tongue-in-cheek lyrics come thick and fast.

Out of the traps springs “All Hail The Wasted”, a monsterous heavy hard rock song with an infectious groove and a foot-tap-ability second to none and while you’re still sucking in a lung full of air to recover from the opening track along comes the swaggering sounds of “Wildside Riot” and “Broken Toys”. A pair of out and out rockers with meaty riffs and plenty of melody to boot.

The album slows down slightly in the cocky “Fukk Em”, then a thumping cresendo announces the arrival of “Candiis Gone Bad” written about a naughty ‘Trash Queen’ girl.

There are many uptempo pleasing songs following as “Glitter Tramps”, “Wasted Lust”, “There Is A Bullet For Each Of You” and ‘Angel On My Back’, the latter having a refreshing and distinct funk style riff that sits nicely amongst the more vibrating hard rocking compositions.

But as said, Rocky Shades is determined to add a ‘new’ Melodic Rock element to his band’s sound and this is what we have in the bouncy “That’s What Sunday Mornings Are For” and the catchy “Babe I Gotta Go” that sounds like it’s been taken straight from any ’80s Hair Metal disc.

WR even also goes for somekind of balladsque with “My Paradise”, a bluesy midtempo with nice melodies and harmony vocals.

Rocky Shade’s return with his own new band Wildside Riot can be resumed quoting a line from the title track; ‘Where have all the good times gone? We are here to bring you some’.

And indeed Wildside Riot delivers the goods for the most part in this baggage of rockin’ songs with Shades’ typical fingerprint yet with a melodic sound and style recalling more the American Hair movement than his early UK sleaze roots. These songs are simply fun and earthly produced.

Get a beer and crank it to 10.

01 – All Hail The Wasted

02 – Wildside Riot

03 – Broken Toys

04 – Fukk Em

05 – Candiis Gone Bad

06 – That What Sunday Mornings Are For

07 – Babe I Gotta Go

08 – Angel On My Back

09 – My Paradise

10 – Glitter Tramps

11 – Wasted Lust

12 – My Woman

13 – There Is A Bullet For Each Of You

Rocky Shades – vocals

Joss Riot – guitar

Jimmy Gunn – guitar

James Crofts – bass

Gaz Wild – drums

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