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By GREG MAKI
The years since the hair metal heyday of the 1980s haven’t been kind to many of the era’s biggest bands. Countless acts have either faded into oblivion or been relegated to trolling across the country in vans playing half-empty clubs about the size of my living room. But Poison, the band that epitomized the sound of the entire genre more than anyone, has remained successful, headlining amphitheaters across the United States each summer despite recording only one entirely new studio album since the mid-‘90s. Having milked their catalogue for three hits collections, live albums and re-releases of their earlier efforts, the time has come for Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett to give the fans something new to spend their money on. And that’s exactly what they’ve done. Kinda.
With the well-publicized tension between band members perhaps limiting the chances of them collaborating on new material, POISON’D! is a collection of cover songs, eight of which are new recordings. I applaud them for their eclectic choices, but oddly, the band adapts to the different styles a little too well. The disc plays more like mixtape someone threw together than an album by one band. The songs are mostly faithful to the originals, though it is hard to deny the sense of fun that permeates tracks like Sweet’s “Little Willy” and The Romantics’ “What I Like About You.” The band sounds most at home on the Southern rock of “Can’t You See,” originally performed by The Marshall Tucker Band, and Grand Funk Railroad’s anthem “We’re an American Band,” previously available on The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock, released in 2006.
If you’re a Poison fan, this is sure to be a fun album to have. It won’t convert any naysayers, and at this point, I’m sure Bret, C.C., Bobby and Rikki don’t really care. The concert tickets are still selling, so why should they?
Track listing:
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“Little Willy” (originally performed by Sweet)
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“ Suffragette City ” (originally performed by David Bowie)
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“I Never Cry” (originally performed by Alice Cooper)
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“I Need to Know” (originally performed by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
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“Can’t You See” (originally performed by The Marshall Tucker Band)
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“What I Like About You” (originally performed by The Romantics)
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“Dead Flowers” (originally performed by The Rolling Stones)
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“Just What I Needed” (originally performed by The Cars)
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“Rock and Roll All Nite” (originally performed by KISS)
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“Squeeze Box” (originally performed by The Who)
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“You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” (originally performed by Jim Croce)
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“Your Mama Don’t Dance” (originally performed by Loggins & Messina)
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“We’re an American Band” (originally performed by Grand
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