Customer Reviews

Wasted

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

 

 

this disc is good for what it is. it's not classic LA Guns, but it's still a great ep. the disc opens with "wasted", a killer rock track that will make you a fan on the spot. next are the tracks "well spent" & "heavy head", good songs with a hint of classic Van Halen. "forgiving eyes" follows, and is the high point of the disc. "jayne '98" & "cold gin" are weak points & don't hold up to the first four tracks. highlights: "wasted" & "forgiving eyes".

THE GUY CAN FLAT OUT PLAY, GO SEE THEM LIVE WHEN THEY COME TO YOUR TOWN! ALBUM ISNT THEIR BEST BUT TRACII IS A STAR AXEL SHOULD GIVE TRACII A CALL HE BLOWS SLASH AWAY! CHECK OUT LIVE ON THE STRIP ITS GREAT ENJOY EJ

This is one of those little gem albums put out by a handful of still great bands that often gets lost between the cracks, and into obscurity. The songs from these kind of albums, despite some being gold nuggets and probably crowd pleasers, you usually never hear live, and the band(s) seem to want to "forget" these chapters of their history as if they never existed. Happens all the time. A few examples I describe can include Motley Crue's 'S/T' (1994), Aerosmith's 'Rock In A Hard Place' (1982), Foreigner's 'Unusual Heat' (1991), Accept's 'Eat The Heat' (1989), and this EP album - L.A. Gun's 'Wasted' from 1998.

I have followed just about every chapter of the L.A. Guns vast history and own and have appreciated just about every release they have put out, including several of the non-Phil Lewis fronted line-ups (ie. American Hardcore, Shrinking Violet, and now this release), and also some of the more mediocre releases that the Phil line-up did (ie. Man in the Moon). Each has something great and unique to offer, if you stop and listen to the actual songs rather than just write off a release because "so and so isn't singing."

There are probably many L.A. Guns fans that don't even know this album existed. It is an LP - 6 great songs, by a short-lived but still great footnote line-up in the L.A. Guns history. Ralph Saenz, of the Van Halen cover band Atomic Punks, was brought in to sing for about a year and Johnny Crypt was on bass guitar, who was in the band roughly 4 years. Tracii Guns and Steve Riley rounded out the remainder of the line-up. The only reason why I gave this album 4 stars is because I feel this line-up had the time and potential to create a full-on album rather than just an EP. Supposedly though, this was just supposed to be a hold-over to tease the fans with until a full on studio LP was made, but those plans were scrapped when Ralph left the band. That being said, there are six gems of great songs here that any rock n' roll and especially L.A. Guns fan should easilly be able to get into. I feel somewhat incomplete having finally owned and gotten to listen to this album almost 10 years after it came out.

The first song WASTED is completley incredible, you won't need to "give it several listens" before it just completely hits you and sinks in. This is a song that any L.A. Guns line-up should be playing live, but you won't hear it live. You probably won't even find it on free file share site. The only place to find it is on the actual now out-of-print album.

A new, but very respectable version of the L.A. Guns classic, Ballad of Jayne '98, is also on his release. It is very beautiful, true to form, and sounds incredible. Almost like the original, and the subtle background keyboard work (who plays these, I don't know. Nobody is credited) just makes for an awestruck listen for this song.

Another cover (Kiss), Cold Gin, is incredibly rocking and also true to form. Ralph sings and screams his neck off. Throughout all of the songs, you will see the talent of Ralph behind the mic, instances of David Lee Roth type wails and superb high notes just make it awesome to listen to all of these songs. Tracii's fluid guitar work and intricate solos are also amazing. Despite the previous album 'American Hardcore' being a radical step in a new sound for the L.A. Guns, Tracii had superb solos and guitar riffs on that release, and that has carried over to this release. You may notice a lot of the similairies, of course, the songs and the singing are a bit different from where Hardcore was.

The album is crisp and very nicely produced, also. Unlike its follow-up, Shrinking Violet, which (despite being another good and lost gem) suffered from poor production.

I can't recommend this album enough. You probably won't find it in stores as it has been long out of print. I'm not even sure it was in stores when it was released. Also, since it's highly obscure, you probably won't find it in the used cd bins at your local used cd stores either. Spend the $14.99 on this, it is doubtful you will regret it. And email the L.A. Guns at their myspace page and ask them to play some of these songs in a live setting.

I'm a big early L.A. Guns fan, and with that said, I just couldn't get used to this new Guns incarnation without Phil. The songs were ok, not great, and without Phil....naaahh.

Buy any and all L.A. Guns with Phil Lewis on vocals, anything else and it really ain't worth it.

this album rocks like no other la guns. the only song i didnt like was forgiving eyes. jayne 99 is better then the original!!! its kold gin tyme again!!!!!!!!!!

OH WOW! NoT LA GUNS without the lyrics and special voice of Mr. Phil Lewis, SORRY won't even bother.