| Skin & Bones Speak Easy | Metal Mayhem MM00038 |
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Skin & Bones are sadly no longer a going concern, but maybe the feedback from this release will encourage the band to have another shot. Singer Johnny Vance is now a solo artist, but I have no idea where the rest of the band are. Speak Easy is a compilation of all the band's recordings - and a very fine one at that. The band recorded one full length album and a 6 track EP, both of which are included here. Tracks 1 to 5 and the last track off the CD belong to the Madhouse EP and tracks 6 to 16 are the original Not A Pretty Sight album. Madhouse was a self produced EP and sounds a lot rougher and rawer than the polished album material. The budget clearly wasn't in place to achieve crystal clear results, but the songs remain highly entertaining. The band know how to write great songs and if attitude filled rock n roll is your thing, these guys deliver all that and more. Tracks like the big ballad anthem Mr. Downtown really should have been all over radio back in the day. The Not A Pretty Sight album is very hard to find these days, so it's great to see it available again. The album was produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and was co-produced and engineered by Mike Fraser. It's obvious to see some good money went into the recording and the results are as good as you could hope for. It's very slick hard rock indeed. This set of 10 tracks is perfect early 90's sleaze hard rock with a touch of stadium rock and glam in the mix. Andy Taylor's influence over the sound is clear to hear. He has a knack for tight, high quality recordings and this is no different. It's perfectly mixed, sharp and clear. For anyone following Andy's work, you will hear direct comparisons to the sound and style of his Dangerous solo album and the other band he was recording at the time – The Almighty. At times this album sounds like a younger brother to the Taylor produced Soul Destruction album and tracks like the semi-acoustic Cover Me With Roses could easily have been included there.
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06/02/07: Mike - foreigner_tribute@yahoo.com
03/06/06: Matt Rook (uk) - rookny@hotmail.com
Rating: 100
I played the same circuit with these guys back in the day in NYC and ran into Jonny Vamp many times in the clubs. I remember when they first played the Cat CLub on wed's and was really impressed with their songs. Great lyrics and they always had their sleaze look down pat. They got bigger and better adn their album was constatntly on WSOU, South Orange NJ, the metal radio station. This album totally rocks. Every song is stellar. I miss those days like hell. LONG LIVE SKIN N BONES!!!
Rating: 99
I first listened to this album almost 12 years ago and as a huge rock fan i believe this album delivers! Any fans of rock should add this to thier collection!
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