Customer Reviews

Nasty Nasty

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

 

 

I bought this album back in early fall of 1986. It was the first album I had heard from them even though it was their third. I really think this was their best album and I was somewhat surprised that this album didn't take them to the next level. Their first album was a solid hard rock effort, but the second album Without love was much more commercial. This one seems to have a good mix of songs. Standouts include the title track, Kiss of Death, Rules and Best in the west. This re-release includes lyrics (which were not in the original lp) and notes about the album which explained somehting I had wondered about for years. The back of the album lists keyboard credits for a song called Promise the moon yet the song is not on the album. The booklet explains that this song was recorded but that Geffen made them remove in order to put I'll be there for you in it's place. The record label apparently thought it needed a radio friendly single on it.

You know what was great about 80's metal...it was so damn fun! Sure everyone knows Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue etc....but there were so many great bands that just couldn't break into that top tier, but still produced some great rock n' roll. You may have never heard of bands like Autograph, Keel, or Black n' Blue..and if you are tired of today's music scene with lip-synch pop stars who can't write a note of music or play one guitar chord..then this is the perfect time to discover some of these "lost" bands. And Black n' Blue is the perfect place to start. I enjoy all four of the band's initial albums, the self-titled debut is just a good fun hard rockin' album, and while "Without Love" adds a more commercial sound to the band, it's still great to crank up tunes like "Strange Things". The final album is also pretty good, "In Heat" was the make or break album for these guys....which ended up breaking them. But "Nasty Nasty" is my favorite album by Black n' Blue. Just a solid album from top to bottom. The catchy guitar riff that opens the disk with the title tune will have you playing air guitar immediately. The drum and bass combo opening "I Want it All" is great, and I would have loved to see these songs performed live. There really isn't a bad song on the cd, and if you are into 80's hair-metal this disk is a must have! Get away from the bland, remade, over-produced stuff put out by the latest American Idol winner and discover some of the great music you may have missed the first time around.

Following on the heels of 1985's "Without Love," the band hit gold with "Nasty Nasty." The album spawned a semi-hit, "I'll Be There For You," that got a little airplay, but it is far from the best song on the album. For me, that honor goes to "Does She or Doesn't She." That is one song I can play over and over without getting tired of. But honestly, there really isn't a bad song on the album. I think I might even go as far as saying this is one of the best hard/melodic rock albums of the late 80's. It really is that good.

Gene Simmons got involved with the band around this time. He had a hand in the production of this album and its lackluster followup "In Heat." The band gives a nod to Kiss in the title track, "Nasty Nasty." During the bridge of the song, they pop in the guitar bridge from The Elder's "Only You." Really cool! Also, Kiss drummer Peter Criss shares vocals on "Best in the West."

What you get here from Jaime St. James, Jeff Watson, Tommy Thayer, Patrick Young, and Pete Holmes is an exceptional album of melodic hard rock, probably one of the very best releases of 1986. I've worn out two tapes and have finally managed to get a copy on CD. This is indeed the band's very best album.

I had this on cassette back in the 80's but due to an unfortunate speaker accident while working on my truck I managed to erase part of my favorite track on this album - Kiss of Death. I have been looking for a long time to find this on CD and couldn't believe I found it here. It doesn't even come up in the search. I found it looking at other BnB albums. My only complaint with this is the poor quality of the artwork on this CD. Some of the printing is blurry. It almost looks like a bootleg. However, the sound quality is awesome. Just as powerful as I remember it!!! I also bought the first release "remaster" at the same time. Same problem with the artwork - looks like they used an inkjet printer to print it. But the CD itself sounds great! Overall, I can live with it, but I think amazon should tell you it is an import. Like I said, it almost looks like a bootleg. But, if you like BnB like I do and want a CD version, the artwork is a minor complaint.

This band has two previous albums full of great material. Listening to the self-titled and Without Love will make you a fan. This Album has one good song on it, and it was the single. It was also the only song not produced by Gene Simmons. I don't mind KISS, but Black N Blue didn't need to sound like Gene Simmons and it ruined the sound of the band. Sorry guys that think this is the best album, it's not. Go listen to Without Love again. I think you missed something the first time around.

Many fans say that Gene Simmons contribution to the band was their greatest mistake, I'm not pretty sure at all because, although is true that "In Heat" is their "less good" album, "Nasty, Nasty" is just as great as their self titled debut album, and a half star above "Without love" (because of the killer guitar work provided by Tommy and Jeff). Jamie's voice sounds better than ever, and the rhytm section provided by Pete and Patrick pound like a heavy rock. This album is full of hard rocking anthems ("Nasty, Nasty", "I want it all", "12 o' clock high", "Kiss of death", "Do what you wanna do"), midtempo rockers ("Best in the west", "Rules"), a ballad that they were forced to include ("I'll be there for you", which by the way, is not bad at all), and last but certanly not least, my favorite Black'n Blue song of all time:"Does she or doesn't she" (twenty years later I can still listen to this song again and again, and I still enjoy it like hell!!). If you never heard before of the mighty B'n B, after you listen to this album you're going to get addicted to this band. This album is killer from start to finish. Highly recommended!!!

That's a great album cover; a hand dipping into a glass of something and it melts the flesh off? and where is the rest of the person? Just nasty nasty! But this is a record full of adventure, a band working to push the boundaries of their chosen idiom; a band that uses their Kiss inluence with the same irreverant reverance as the grunge bands would. Yep, this is even a little ahead of its time, pushing the beat like young Leppard, and screwing with conventional song structures just a wee bit for the short attention span youth of the 90s. Love how both "Domino" and the bridge to "Only You" made it into the title cut. And Thayer is one big time Frehley fan, if only they could've snagged him up the first go around. That hip hop flavored Scorpions bazooka song "Rules" is fantastic.

I find BnB to be one of the most underrated bands that emerged in the 80s. The riffs and songwriting are great, the production is actually quite good for its time as well. I never got to see these guys live, but felt they were at least as good (if not better) than many of the peers who went out to huge success. Granted the 80s were a lot of re-hashing, no arguing that, but within the genre this is about as catchy and well done as it gets. I rate their albums in the order they came out from best to worst. Nasty Nasty fits right in the scale between Without Love and In Heat. For the most part Gene Simmons overly cheesy influence is missed...thankfully...but you begin to see the butcher job he would create with the next album In Heat. The title track, Kiss of Death and 12 O'Clock are killer guitar riffs and still impressive all these years later, even Ill Be There For You manages to be a catchy well done ballad without being too sappy (debatable). I think Simmons was thinking $$ (what a shocker) and trying to make bubble gum out of a band that kicked serious ass. They would have been better off without him.

Overall I enjoy this CD start to finish, the song Best In The West the exception. I cringe everytime Peter Criss yells..."you tell em Saint" Eject. Ive been waiting for the entire catalog to be reissued so im happy to have it but its not thier best. Maybe BnB just takes me back to my youth, but having not heard this in 20 years or so, I think it stands up quite well. This is a must have along with the rest, just make sure you stop the player before Best In The West comes on and ruins the entire experience for you...:)

This is Blue's best album, and it's hard to even say that becasue their debut is just as awesome and heavy. This is true 80's metal with a genuine rock edge, im so happy this band is back together can't wait to hear some new meterial.

Since the day this cd came out it's been overlooked , unfortunately because it got lumped in the "Hair Metal" category. This was a band that should have been huge but got the shaft because they were from the East coast. L.A. was the only thing that mattered at the time and look at all the crap it churned out because of the L.A. label. Black 'N'Blue wrote good catchy songs that were memorabe and rivaled the sexual entadres of the early Kiss era. Great cd with stand out tracks like "Kiss Of Death","Best Of The West","12 O'Clock High", and the title track. All in all it's a fun disc that has been overlooked ,even my 9 year old requests Black'N'Blue over today's radio forced fed junk so that says something for the music and writing itself. What do you have to lose 18 bucks? Big deal you probably spend that on video games with less value. Try it you might thank me later.