Customer Reviews

In Heat

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Black 'n Blue album "In Heat"is awesome rock 'n roll by far! This was the last album Black 'n Blue released before they broke up in 1988. KISS bassist Gene Simmons produced this album and did a good job. (Black 'n Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer is now touring as the Ace Frehley Spaceman persona on the KISS/Aerosmith tour.) The standout track on this album is the opening song, "Rock On". It is a strong song with a great story, an awesome way to open an album, and there are rocking guitar riffs at the beginning of the song by Black 'n Blue guitarists Tommy Thayer and Jef "Woop" Warner. Highly Recommended!

This is the band's fourth album, and the second to be produced by Gene Simmons. This is an underrated album - almost every song is strong and there are several that are "hits".

I picked this up on cassette when I was 15 in '87, and again recently on CD. I still enjoy it immensely.

Tracks:
Rock On: Great intro tune, excellent melody
Sight for Sore Eyes: A bit of a departure, okay tune
Heat it Up, Burn it Out: Great builds up, strong rhythm
Suspicious: Okay attempt at a radio friendly song
Snake: Great rocker
Live It Up: I remember they closed a concert with this one. One of the classics on this album.
Gimme Your Love: Another awesome song
Get Wise to the Rise: One of my favorite tunes of all time - can't beat the lyrics and killer beat
Great Guns of Fire: Awesome rockin' tune - faster paced
Stranger: Slow tune that isn't all that great. Would have preferred to end the album with Great Guns of Fire.

This is an awesome album and their most mature effort. All their albums are good but this is their best one overall. This one shows their energy, passion, and awesome musicianship. It's a shame they weren't more popular - this album would have gotten them there if they'd received more promotion.

Many people believe that this is the "weaker" of the 4 studio releases from Portland's much underrated rock band B'n'B.I beg to differ. While not as raw as their debut,and not as pop-rock as Without Love,In Heat,in my opinion is just as impressive as it's predecessor "Nasty Nasty". I believe that B'n'B were trying one last attempt to garner some mainstream attentiion,and for some reason,it never happened. How bands like Britny Fox,Kix,and Bulletboys were somewhat house hold metal names,where B'n'B was an afterthought,is beyond me.No,it's not heavy metal,but how can you not enjoy such tracks as Suspicious,Live it up,Heat it up...Burn it out,and of course get Wise to the Rise!Whether it's their first cd,their last,or anything in between,B'n'B have something for everyone. Give it a chance.

I was pumped when this album came out back in 1988. I had loved "Without Love" and "Nasty Nasy" and thought things could only get better. In this case, no...things kind of went to pieces. Gone is the personality that permiated the music of the first three albums. The individual style and sound the band had created over the past several years had all but evaporated.

On "In Heat" the band seemed to leave behind their guitar oriented sound for a more bass and programmed drum sound similar to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me." You can particularly hear this on "Sight for Sore Eyes" (not another Aerosmith cover), "Rock On," "Gimmie Your Love" and "Suspicious." They're all variations on that same formula. "Stranger" almost sounds like an attempt at Def Leppard's "Foolin'," but not as good. They're really not bad songs, but they don't sound like the Black n' Blue I came to admire. Instead they sound like weak attempts to copy other bands' material.

The bright spots on the album are "The Snake," "Get Wise to the Rise," and "Great Guns of Fire." The songs have some semblance of that old Black n' Blue sound.

It was after this album that the band called it quits. Jaime St. James went on with his own band, St. James, while Tommy Thayer has gone on to work with Kiss. As I mentioned in the title of the review, "In Heat" isn't Black n. Blue's best moment (that would be Nasty Nasty" and Without Love"), but it has a few bright spots on it -- although they're few and far between. If you're a fan of the band, wait until the price comes down, because it really isn't work seeking out at the import price of $25+.

The songs on this album sound more mature and solid than the songs on their previous albums. I recommend this album but I can't say that I would recommend their previous albums to buyers.

Is not that this album is a bad one, because it has some brilliant moments, but compared to their first three albums, this one didn't achive the high expectations that were set on them. Once again Gene Simmons produced, and the result was a bit...confusing. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Kiss fan, but I guess that the fact that he co-wrote many of the songs, provoked that B'n B didn't sound at all like B'n B (listen to "Sight for sour eyes", but specially "Give me your love" and "Live it up", if you want to know what I mean). There are a couple of good radio oriented songs ("Rock on" and "Suspicious"). "Stranger" is slow but with a nice groove (maybe not the best choice to close the album). "Heat it up" is heavy and with a nice build up intro (too bad there is not a guitar solo in the middle of it). But the best tracks of the album are without a doubt: "The snake", "Great guns of fire" and "Get wise to the rise". If you are a casual fan and you're going to give B'n B just one chance, skip this one and try "Black'n Blue", "Without love" or "Nasty, nasty". If that's not the case, try the four of them and give yourself the chance to discover one of the most underrated, talented and greatest hard rock bands of all time. Long live Black'n Blue!!!!!

Black N' Blue was one of the bands of the early 1980s that had a legitimate shot at getting to first tier. Their first two albums were unbelievably new, fresh, and took hard rock in a unique direction. They had a sound, rhythm, and focus all their own. But they were a band who (sadly, in my opinion) were far too influenced by the producers they worked with. Dieter Dirks just made sure the first album rocked hard. Bruce Fairbairn wanted to throw in some cool SFX and get the band young and more pop. And then Gene Simmons entered Black N' Blue's life and what would eventually be their non-future. I'm not trying to belittle the band, but this sounds like a (bad) Gene Simmons solo album, the kind of stuff Gene wanted to try out but knew wouldn't cut it. I hear much more GS than B N'B on this cd. If you listen to the following Simmons House cds, you'll see how derivative this cd is of Gene's sound: Keel's "The Right to Rock" and "The Last Frontier"; Wendy O. Williams' "WOW." All of these cds could be the same band with very similar songs and typical rock elements showing just how borrowed and blue (for lack of a better phrase) they are. Some will argue that this cd stood the test of time better, that it was more "mature," but I completely disagree. What fans of today's hard rock appreciate about this is the cd's hard, controlled drive. But that's not what got them to the dance in the first place. Listen to "The Snake" and any of Gene Simmons' songs from KISS's _Lick It Up_, _Animalize_, or _Asylum_, and you'll be forgetting the names of the songs and thinking you heard one song on the other album. This album makes Black N' Blue's loss of identity and fan base all too clear; it's as identity- as gender-confused as the line from "The Snake" that goes, "Let me slide down your river and get all wet." If you find this, buy the cheap cassettes out there, try it first, and then buy the cd if you like it.