Shrinking Violet

L.A. Guns | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Perris Records
• ASIN: B00000J7TQ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,255 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Girl You Turn Me On

2. Shrinking Violet

3. Dreamtime

4. Barbed Wire

5. I'll Be There

6. California

7. Cherries

8. Decide

9. Big Lil' Thing

10. It's Hard

11. Bad Whiskey

12. How Many More Times

Editorial Reviews

1999 album by this group of hard rockin' L.A. misfits. 12 tracks of blistering metal produced by Gilbey Clarke, including a cover of Led Zeppelin's 'How Many More Times'. The group is now a trio comprised of Tracii Guns, Steve Riley and Jizzy Pearl.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This a pretty good hard rock album, June 29, 2001

By 

A. To "lagunsrule" (Allen Park, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shrinking Violet (Audio CD)

The album has a nice raw, "garage" sound, but like "Hollywood Vampires," I only like about half of the songs. Opening tracks "Girl, You Turn Me On" and "Shrinking Violet" start things off with a bang! Both are awesome rockers, and show that singer Jizzy Pearl has a lot of potential. "Dreamtime" is a nice ballad with some hooks and melodies, but grows tiresome after you listen to it for awhile. "Barb Wire" is moody song that, for some strange reason, reminds of the videogame "Castlevania." Being a moody song, some days I like it and some days I don't.

After two "slow" songs, things pick up again with "I'll Be There," which is a nice heavy rocker. "California" is also a nice rocker, but this is where the album seems to be on the decline. It seems like Tracii Guns and company may have ran out off steam on this record. The last track, a cover of Led Zepellin's "How Many More Times" is okay. If you liked the original, then you'll like this version and vice versa. Overall, I think that this cd is better than "Hollywood Vampires" because it has a consistent sound, whereas in "Hollywood Vampires" their sound was all over the place.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest L.A. Guns CD ever!, June 25, 2000

By 

"wolflust" (Tampa, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shrinking Violet (Audio CD)

WOW! I picked this CD up not knowing what to expect. I was surprised to hear the best L.A. Guns album ever! This CD has long time LOVE/HATE vocalist Jizzy Pearl on the vocals. He brings a nice raw sound back to the band. Tracii has written some of his best music in years. I wish this lineup would have continued. I really can't find anything wrong with this album except for the production, but the songs more than make up for that. I think this is Jizzy's best performance since the first LOVE/HATE record. Anyway, I highly recommend this CD to any hard rock fans! You can't go wrong on this CD!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best hard rock discs you'll hear this year!, June 4, 2010

By 

Mr. Orange "Mr. Orange" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shrinking Violet (Audio CD)

While LA Guns has a solid and quite large body of work, SHRINKING VIOLET is one of the best cds they've made. If you missed this disc the fist time around, do yourself a favor and pick this up. Every track on this cd is a winner sans Bad Whiskey which is a ratio few bands fail to achieve in this era The hard work and professionalism of this line-up is particularly evident in the extra live tracks that are included in this re-issue. Vocalist Jizzy Pearl (made famous as lead throat for LA legends Love/Hate) has the right pedigree to front any band featuring Tracii Guns. To get hooked quick listen to Girl You Turn Me On, Dreamtime, I'll Be There and Cherries. At that point you'll be ready to enjoy the remainder of this gem. Seriously, its really good. Interestingly they've switched out a studio track, Decide, for a live version of the same track that absolutely smokes. The company responsible for the 5 live tracks did a phenomenal job and I wish the entire show was avaliable as sonically it sounds great. Anyhow, this is my first amazon review, but felt strongly enough to post. Enjoy this disc if you have it and if don't your missing out on a straight up hard rock disc that fits perfectly in 2010.

Take care!