Having spent the weekend rounding up some truly phenomenal black and death metal albums, it’s time to relax a little with this latest effort from the LA Guns who are on the cusp of celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. And thinking of celebrations, the band decided to throw an acoustic concert at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood – a fitting venue for an esteemed band and a suitably different concept to the band’s typical brash and bold output to raise at least a few eyebrows.
The end result is very good indeed and in the tradition of those great unplugged sets by acts such as Nirvana and Alice in chains, the band have made every effort (including rounding up a few friends) to give the event a sense of occasion. With Tracii Guns himself claiming to be scared at the prospect, it’s fair to say the band have stepped outside of their usual comfort zone for this one, but the nerves, if anything, have conspired to make this album all the stronger with each member turning in a strong, restrained and at times very touching performance.
Opening track ‘crystal eyes’ sets the tone perfectly – a warm rich guitar tone is backed by gentle keyboards and a restrained rhythm section whilst Jizzy Pearl turns in a wonderfully understated vocal performance that astutely matches the feel of the songs in this stripped-down form. ‘One way ticket’ is yet better still as the band settle into the setting and pour on the drama. There’s a loose blues feeling to the tracks but also a great dynamic tension ably provided by the addition of Muddy Stardust on second guitar and Doni Gray providing extra percussion, allowing the band to build some impressive crescendos for an acoustic performance. The eastern-tinged ‘decide’ is a real highlight, actually drawing comparisons with Page and Plant’s ‘unledded’ album – high praise indeed. It’s the perfect album to sit back to in the gathering gloom of winter, lights and heating on, glass of whiskey in hand and put your worries on hold for a while – it’s not a dangerous album, or at least not in the conventional sense but there is the real feeling that the band pushed themselves as musicians here and the songs benefit greatly from these new interpretations – fans will be enthralled. ‘Dreamtime’ sees Jizzy cutting loose over a fifties rock ballad vibe, before ‘electric gypsy’ tears the place apart even in its acoustic form. Rarely do band’s sound this alive in an unplugged form, but LA Guns have crafted the perfect balance between the need for a more grounded approach to acoustic music and the demands of showmanship… and, of course, there’s the not-so-small matter of Tracii Guns’ excellent guitar playing placed front and centre where, despite any nerves the man may have professed to have, it shines.
A slightly weaker number, and one of the few weaker songs on the album in general, is ‘it’s over now’ which flits rather too much with generic acoustic balladry territory and which sounds particularly leaden after ‘electric gypsy’. Fortunately ‘never enough’ breaks out the cow bell, piano and attitude for a rousing version of the song that more than makes up for the previous track’s inadequacies. An epic, haunting and quite brilliant ‘over the edge’ is the set’s greatest moment – a beautifully performed, seven minute piece of pop-rock genius, Jizzy’s performance is inspirational and the band match him every step of the way. ‘Little soldier’ is less expected, and rather less welcome, it’s jaunty edge sitting at odds with the grandeur of the piece it follows. It’s not bad per se, it just feels out of place. ‘Sex action’ is, as you might anticipate, more fun before ‘these arms of mine’ (a cover of Otis Redding’s classic) adds a touch of class to proceedings. A decent run through ‘love hurts’ leads us to the grand finale – the sultry ‘the ballad of Jayne’ and the bluesy ‘rip and tear’ both of which highlight exactly why LA Guns have proved so long lived.
Overall LA Guns have celebrated their thirtieth anniversary, and their resounding rock legacy in style and despite a couple of tracks which spoil the overall flow it’s hard to argue with the quality of what’s on offer and the choice of cuts on offer. The band all put in tight performances and the sound mix captures everything with a nice warm tone, perfect for this type of concert. A resounding success then from the enduring LA Guns, long may they continue.
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