Customer Reviews

Shrinking Violet

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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!

If all you've heard of LA Guns is their first 2 albums, you're missing out. This 1999 release is my favorite l.a.g. album. Ex-Love/Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl does the vocals (Check out Blackout In The Red Room by Love/Hate). This CD's been in my truck's cd player for a while now. I can't take it out! Get it! Tracii needs a new guitar! Ha (That would make an even 1000). Take Me Back To California!

This album rocks, those of you who like LA Guns and Love/Hate, must own this album. Tracii sounds as good as ever, and Jizzy fills in nicely as the lead singer, too bad he is already gone. THe Led Zeppelin cover is one of the best covered version of any Zep song and at nearly 10 minutes it does do justice to the original. THose of you in the mood for some stompin' hard rock get this. THe only reason it does not get 5 stars is the production could have been better, but it sounds like Gilby was going for a "garage" type feel. THe best songs on this great CD are: Girl You Turn Me On, Shrinking Violet, Barbed Wire, I'll Be There, Decide,It's Hard,How Many More Times......GO GET THIS NOW! AND ROCK ON!

If your an L.A.Guns fan like I am then you would be just as dissapointed as I was when I recieved this album. Without Phil there is no L.A.Guns wether you'd like to admitt it or not. In this album they tried to revert back to the days of there Self-Titled debut and leave the Heavy Metal scene that they tried on the American Hardcore album, but without Phil it just didnt work. Jizzy Pearl and the rest of the band were off-sync and the sound production was horrible, it sounded like they just recorded a few demos and crammed it into the album without any mixing or anything. I only recommend this album if your a true L.A.Guns fan like I am.

The original release of Shrinking Violet is better since it has more studio songs. The re-issuie is missing the Zep cover How Many More Times.

The GOOD: Metal sludge praised this album as being better than the albums being put out by LA Guns' peers on the late 90's, which it is. and to the guy who said that it barely sold, actually it was Perris' top selling CD "ever" for many years, which I know isn't saying much in millions, but for the era and for a band that had been through so much change in 5 years it's a bit of a compliment. Johnny and Jizzy really added something to the band, something good, maybe not something that the band's entite fanbase would enjoy as i'm sure most would have liked to see Phil, Mick, & Kelly continue with the band... but the band was strong at this point. Half of the songs are actually really great. I remember when i first got the CD the two songs that stuck out were "Girl you turn me on", the album opener which is a great classic LAG tune and "dreamtime", which is the mellow ballad that showcases Jizzy's voice and that classic Tracii guitar work. "Shrinking Violet", the title song, is funky and even shows the band poking fun at themselves with the line about "all the lead singers", even if it was about a girl. "I'll be there" is another great one, it's the song that opened the euro-version of the CD. "california" is also cool. This album shares the same vibe and style as its follow-up, 2001's "man in the moon" (although MITM featured Phil Lewis on vocal). To me, the 2 albums are fraternal twin-brothers.

The Bad: I mean, this album doesn't really have much on 1988's debut or 2002's "Waking the Dead", but it's a solid record. I refered to metal sludge's review, which also re-titled this album "shrinking budget", an obvious jab as it shows in the artwork and (mentioned by many other reviewers) production. Gilby had an ear for making the record good but the band obviously didn't have the money to make it sound great... a task they didn't accomplish until three years later with Andy Johns and "Waking the Dead". The album cover is a JOKE!! it's violet, obviously, but the LA Guns sheild was beating a dead horse by this point, as it had just graced the cover of 1998's "Wasted". The European release had a much cooler album cover (one of Tracii's tattoos) and a booklet of color photos and lyrics, which the US-release didn't have. It also is kind of crappy that they reduced Johnny Crypt to a bit of an additional musician as he had left the band by the CD's release, even though he co-wrote songs and played bass on the album. And others have mentioned that a few of the songs are a bit ... i hate to say boring ... so i'll say lackluster.

The end: 10 years later i still enjoy this CD, actually more than many of the other LA Guns releases. maybe it's just because it was released at the right time for me, but really think the album stands up. I told Tracii that it's one of my favorites, and i stand by that. It's really too bad that it's "out of print" officially, both Perris and Axe Killer seem to have stopped pressing it, but i see that Tracii and Jizzy have re-issued it independently for their summer tour... which i am so glad to see reunites the two 10 years later to perform the songs "decide" and "dreamtime". Long live LA Guns!

Any fan of Love/Hate or old school L.A. Guns will find a lot to like about 'Shrinking Violet.' Jizzy Pearl is the best singer the band has ever had. Songs like California, I'll Be There, and Girl You Turn Me On are radio hits waiting to happen. Even though the production could have been better, the band's songwriting and playing makes up for the sound. This is the only record Jizzy made with the band and the last one Johnny Crypt played on. We'll miss you guys!

Give this excellent album a listen. You won't be disappointed.

Shrinking Violet is better than album by any incarnation of L.A. Guns. The musical diversity (and dexterity) is unbelievable and the style is fresh. I bought the cd on June 30th, and haven't taken it out of my car cd player yet! Buy this...you won't be sorry.