Customer Reviews

Tainted Angel

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4 star:		(3)
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1991's Tainted Angel was the debut album from L.A. (by way of Georgia) hair metal band Southgang. One of about a million leather and hairspray bands to emerge from the Hollywood rock scene, Southgang caught the ear of producer/songwriter/hitmaker Desmond Child, which helped the band stand out from the crowd.

Despite their name, Southgang's sound isn't as Southern as you might think. Not the way bands like Roxy Blue or Tangier were anyway. Sure, there's a bluesy swagger and songs like "Georgia Lights" and "Big City Woman," but for the most part Tainted Angel is a slick, polished hair metal album. The songs are all upbeat, melodic, very radio friendly, and not too far removed from the average Firehouse/Warrant/Poison formula. Now I love that stuff, so I was more than happy with this totally fun and totally rockin' album, but it's not hard to see why they didn't make it too far into the `90s.

Southgang issued a follow-up in 1992 called Group Therapy, but by then the writing was on the wall. Grunge was moving in and Southgang's brand of rock was on the way out. Not even Desmond Child, who helped make Bon Jovi a household name, could change that.

If you're a serious fan of the late `80s and early `90s melodic rock and hair metal scene, you're going to want to check out what Southgang had to offer. Unfortunately Tainted Angel is not the easiest CD to find.

Southgang were a pretty typical band for the time, and with that, I mean they had all the talent in the world, but were simply overshadowed by the impending grunge explosion.

The most impressive part of Southgang's debut, Tainted Angel, is the immense talent of Butch Walker and the vocal prowess of Jesse Harte. These guys combine to make this album an above average hair-metal release. Tainted Angel boasts some pretty solid hard rock tunes. Boys Night Out, Georgia Lights, Tainted Angel, Love Ain't Enough, Love For Sale and Shoot Me Down are all first-rate tracks. The rest of the album isn't bad, but it's not particularly memorable either.

I recommend this to anyone who likes late 80's/early 90's hard rock. I can't see you being disappointed, and wouldn't imagine you not finding some awesome tunes on here. The band did release a follow-up in 1992 called Group Therapy, but just like Tainted Angel, it's mostly forgotten today.

A PRETTY GOOD DEBUT....HOW MUCH HELP FROM DESMOND CHILD IS TO BE ASKED...BUT HE HAD A HUGE HAND IN WRITING THEIR SONG "LOVE AINT' ENOUGH" NO DOUBT....
A GREAT CD IF YOU ARE INTO POISON,MOTLEY CRUE,BON JOVI...etc... YOU CAN HEAR THOSE INFLUENCES ON THIS ALBUM...
HOWEVER THEIR NEXT CD AFTER THIS PROVED TO BE HEAVIER AND MORE ORIGINAL "GROUP THERAPY"... SHOWCASING THE REAL TALENTS OF BUTCH WALKER

Had a great future until hair band dyed out. They are friends of mine but a great sound none the less.

Greg Morris
Rome, Ga