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Vince Neil - Tattoos & Tequila

Published June 08 2010


*
=Staff's pick

Tattoos & Tequila
He's A Whore (Cheap Trick)*
AC/DC (Sweet)*
Nobody's Fault (Aerosmith)
Another Bad Day*
No Feelings (Sex Pistols)
Long Cool Woman (The Hollies)*
Another Piece Of Meat (The Scorpions)
Who Will Stop The Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley)
Bitch Is Back (Elton John)
Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers (ZZ Top)


Genre Hard Rock
Vince Neil
Vocals
Tracks 12
Jeff Blando
Guitar
Runningtime 41 Min.
-
Guitar
Label Frontiers Records
Dana Strum
Bass
Release 04 June 2010
Zoltan Chaney
Drums
Country USA
-
Keyboard
Producer Vince Neil/Jack Blades/Marti Frederiksen    
Similar artists ---

With Mötley Crue having a quiet period before a summer with festival appearances, vocalist Vince Neil takes the opportunity to release Tattoos & Tequila, his third as a solo artist. His last individual effort, Carved In Stone, dates as far back as 1995 while Exposed came in 1993. The latter was a particularly fine piece of work, and successful too, peaking at number 13 on the US charts. This time, however, Neil has gone for a different approach, recording ten covers plus two new songs.

Just like the title and album cover reflect the blonde-haired singer's rock ´n roll image, the numbers chosen for the album reflect his musical influences. Some of the artists are quite predictable, such as Aerosmith, The Sweet and Sex Pistols, but there are also not so obvious ones, like The Hollies, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Elton John. Sometimes the interpretations work well, sometimes not as well, but although there are no real spectacular tracks, the version of Long Cool Woman (originally by The Hollies) is appealing. Moreover, He's A Whore (Cheap Trick), AC/DC (Sweet) and No Feelings (Sex Pistols) are energetic rockers, and Nobody's Fault (Aerosmith) seriously heavy. A good dose of attitude has been injected into the tunes, and many of them feature lyrics that fit with the escapades of the Mötley member.

The album has the signature sound that is to be expected, with a fat production and sharp guitars accompanying Vince's unmistakable voice, which is in good shape here. It does, however, sound rather out of place at times, such as on Who Will Stop The Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and on a metallized version of Viva Las Vegas (Elvis Presley). What about the two original songs, then? Well, the title track is a groovy number with a simple but effective chorus, and some modern touches. Another Bad Day, meanwhile, which in fact is from Mötley´s New Tattoo sessions, is a fine power ballad.

Tattoos & Tequila, which, it shall be said, also serves as promotion for an upcoming book by Neil of the same name, is in truth not something which will take the music world by storm, being enjoyable enough but hardly thrilling - as is mostly the case with cover material. Other than for the most devoted Neil and Mötley fans it's not an obligatory purchase and its relevance could be questioned. Saying that, viewed simply as a rock ´n roll record paying homage to that music style and some of its seminal artists - the main idea behind the project - it fills its purpose well. If the album does end up in your CD player - or more modern devices - it will work fine as an uplifting energizer for an evening's fun.

Performance
Originality
Production
Vocals
Songwriting

7

5

7

7

6

 
Summary



6 chalices of 10 - Mozzy


Related links:

www.vinceneil.net
www.myspace.com/vinceneil