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www.churchonthursday.com
Vicious Delite
Vicious Delite
Triple X Records
2000
Stephen Pearcy
Before & Laughter
Triple X Records
2000
Vicious Delite
I'd like to say that this is an album that will go
down in Metal history as the triumphant 
return
of Stephen Pearcy. Alas, I cannot claim this and I am a sad, sad dude. It
saddens me mostly because I love Stephen Pearcy and his haystack hair-sporting,
bang-flicking, poouty, overtly sexual, melodic, harmony duel guitar-driven
band known to you Metal kids (or adults) as Ratt.
Ratt epitomized the early-to-mid 80's L.A. scene.
Some confuse Motley Crue as the kings of that era in L.A. Metal. Don't make
that mistake! Ratt was and is the best L.A. glam band ever! Knowing this makes
all the difference if you want to sport your newly-coifed mullet in public
without getting your ass kicked
by the likes of me.
I said Ratt were the kings of the early 80's Glam Metal scene, yet I never viewed them as "glam". I just thought they kicked ass. When I was thirteen, they did. Vicious Delite, on the other hand, is crap! This self-titled debut via Triple X Records is atrocious. I've listened to it numerous times just to make sure I didn't judge it based on it not being Ratt.
Damn! Felix gave this CD to me just because he knew I loved Ratt. He also knew I'd want to give it accolades, but couldn't. Damn you, Felix! This album is bad from cover to cheaply-produced cover. Any self-respecting D.I.Y. punk band could do a better job of production, mixing, lyric writing, and cover art than this. The vocals are so garbled and washed out I can't discern words from cymbal crashes. The guitars grind all right--grind you into a mind meltdown. If my high school ever produced a heavy metal band circa 1985, this is what it would sound like, complete with the idiotic song titles Vicious Delite offers, i.e. "The Fuck" and "Railbreak".
Bottom line: This CD isn't Butt Rock, but it's not Ratt and I don't think Ratt is Butt Rock. I felt the song lyrics were worse than early NOFX, the mix was poor enough to qualify for bankruptcy, and the songs were very Kenny G-esque, since the listener is subjected to one never-ending note/chord thing . The never-ending note/chord thing really vexes me. If you're going to do that just write one song title down instead of punishing the listener by never letting them feel the closure one gets when a song ends.
So, if you drive a primer-gray '72 Nova, '83 Camaro (with a V6), or any year Pontiac Trans Am or Firebird, you need this CD to go with your graying mullet.
Stephen Pearcy
F'n Felix! He gave me another Stephen Pearcy CD to review. This one is titled Before & Laughter. It accompanied the Vicious Delite packet I received. It is a "comprehensive overview of the career of Stephen Pearcy," claims a quote from the promo flyer.
The cover shows a "period" photo of Stephen in all his makeup, torn shirt and Don Johnson Miami Vice-jacket glory. Oh, and his very trademark pout. Metal chicks loved that crap back then.
I dig this CD because it is horrible. I must qualify that. It's a collection of a bunch of masters Stephen kept through the years. All songs are original material featuring songs from Ratt, Mickey Ratt, and solo stuff. The Ratt stuff sounds like studio practice recordings. It's cool because of its honesty and lack of pretension.
Bottom line: This CD is for the die-hard Metaller and/or collector of obscure stuff.
--Garren Hanon