Poison - Seven Days Live (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)Poison's new DVD "Seven Days Live," (2006) from the band's performance at London's Hammersmith Apollo is a very unusual and unexpected concert that the band would choose to release. One might expect Poison to release a DVD from a more recent tour (which is more or less a nostalgia act) or release a DVD from the 1990 "Flesh and Blood" tour, when the band was at its commercial peak. But a show from 1993 is totally surprising for a few reasons.
First, this lineup of Poison features guitarist Ritchie Kotzen, stepping in for C.C. Deville, who left Poison from 1991 to 1996. Kotzen made only one album with Poison, 1993's mature and bluesy "Native Tongue," before being fired for shagging drummer Rikki Rocket's fiancé. It seems odd to release a DVD with Kotzen, considering that his tenure in the band was so short lived and that the classic lineup of Poison, with C.C., is hands down the definitive version of the band.
Another reason a show from '93 is an unusual choice is that the set list relies heavily from the band's "Native Tongue" (1993) album. Although "Native Tongue" is a strong and well-written album, it was a relative failure. "Native Tongue" was the band's first album that failed to go platinum, winding up in the dreaded cut-out bin, sitting next to Vince Neil's "Exposed," (1993) Motley Crue's 1994 self-titled album, and David Lee Roth's "A Little Ain't Enough" (1991) by the end of 1994. "Native Tongue" is now out-of-print and is only available used or as a cut-out. It seems odd to release a DVD from a concert showcasing an album that was virtually ignored upon its release and is now forgotten.
All this taken into consideration, a show from 1993 is either desirable or undesirable, depending on what you're looking for. If you are a casual fan or a Poison purist, and want a show of all the hits, you may find yourself disappointed with this DVD. As previously stated, a lot of the songs (nearly half) are from the "Native Tongue" album and many fans will probably be unfamiliar with that material. Also, Kotzen is far more technically proficient than C.C. Deville, and jazzes up the solos from the C.C. material, so purists may be put-off, or they may just be put off by seeing anyone but C.C. on lead guitar.
But other fans may get a lot out of this DVD. I've seen Poison a few times in the last few years, and although I always enjoy the show, I am disappointed that they play virtually the same songs all the time. It's as though the band is frozen in 1990. While a Poison show in the 00s is still a lot of fun, it's most definitely a nostalgia act. With this DVD, it's great to see the band out promoting fresh material. I really enjoyed the "Native Tongue" album, so it's great to hear those songs performed live, because the band nowadays certainly won't do it (although they have played "Stand" with C.C.) And while some fans may not like Kotzen's interpretations of the songs, I find them to be a refreshing change of pace.
Recorded at London's Hammersmith Apollo on April, 23, 1993, among a wildly enthusiastic sold-out crowd, it's easy to forget that outside the hall, most of the audience that so loved Poison only a few years before, were now listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It's a shame that Poison never really survived grunge and has now been reduced to being a nostalgia act, because they deserve better. With "Native Tongue," the band didn't jump on any bandwagon or rehash a tired formula. With "Native Tongue" the band made an earnest attempt to grow as artists and made an album that deserved to be heard. It's a shame that the general public of 1993 wasn't mature enough to like both Poison and Nirvana and felt they had to abandon one and embrace another. But for a few hours within a hall, several thousand fans didn't care if Poison was cool or not.
The actual taping of the show is superb. Shot in mostly color, with some black and white footage, "documentary style," the show is professionally shot and looks and sounds great. Charismatic frontman Brett Michaels has the audience by the palm of his hand, and along with the rest of the band, gives 100 percent.
In conclusion, I would recommend this DVD for fans of the "Native Tongue" album and the more die-hard fans that are familiar with the lesser known material. Casual fans may be disappointed with the lack of big hits, although there are still enough big hits, like "Every Rose Has its Thrown" and "Something to Believe in" to please, although purists still may be put off by Kotzen's interpretations.


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Seven Days Live captures Poison (Bret Michaels, Bobby Dall, Rikki Rockett and Richie Kotzen) at the height of their international success with a full show recorded at Londons Hammersmith Apollo in 1993.Featuring classic tracks like Unskinny Bop, Talk Di

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Open Up & Say Ahhh Review

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(More customer reviews)After doing a more or less straight cover of KISS's "Rock And Roll All Nite" for the Less Than Zero soundtrack, the bad boys of Poison released their second album, Open Up And Say Ahh!, which got into a bit of a controversy because of the album cover. So what's the big deal about a scraggly haired demonic green-eyed woman with a long tongue sticking out? Apparently a lot to the censorship folks. The edited album cover was a narrow strip that merely showed the eyes and orange slightly below and above. Fortunately, I manged to snag the unedited cover.
"Love On The Rocks" recalls Motley Crue and Cinderella, only not as hard as those two groups, but a good enough dose of rock and roll and swaggering bedroom antics. Another track Diamond Dave would be proud of.
"Nothin' But A Good Time" was a good choice for the first single although not as rowdy as the first single from their debut. The theme of blowing one's hard-earned money for a good time to compensate for an unsatisfying job is shown clearly here. The part before the final chorus run-through is a favorite. After CC's solo, comes the rhythmic thumping of the drums in measured time.
Going "Back To The Rocking Horse" seems like a good idea to me. After a brief been-there, done-that explanation, the narrator longs not only for a simpler time but to start all over again. Gosh, the things I'd do if I had the chance, and the world had better look out! A worthy rocker.
A bluesy harmonica and beats owing nods to to "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way" is displayed on "Good Love," which is to the girl of the song what petrol is to a car. The lifestyle led by the couple in this leads neighbours saying "the things you're doing ain't natural, boy."
The naughtiest and hardest rocking non-single track here is "Look But You Can't Touch" about his trying to seduce a young thing who later doesn't seem quite as innocent as all that. When he sings "I didn't plan on spending money just to get a piece of mind", he emphasizes the word "mind", making me think, "Yeah, as opposed to something rhyming with mass." The guitar squeals in time when he sings that he gets slapped in face for making an illegal move.
"Fallen Angel", the second single, is about a small-town girl whose dreams of show business includes a life in the fast lane, "rolling the dice of her life."
A heartfelt sigh opens the heartbreaking "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", their first #1 song and a mature ballad looking back at a blown chance to make or break a relationship. After words like "like the knife that cuts you/the wound heals, but the scar, that scar remains," I thought, "And these guys did 'Talk Dirty To Me' two years ago?" This really set the standard for their other great ballad, Flesh & Blood's "Something To Believe In"
Then comes a cover of Loggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance," which is good old fashioned rock and roll from the 70's. By the time this single came out, hard on the heels of the previous one, the album had run its course, hence its failing to make the Top Ten.
Things get slower, the sound lacking the ferocity of Look What The Cat Dragged In, which results in a few filler tracks, compensated for by "Every Rose..." but Bret Michael's swaggering bad-boy, play all night with beautiful women tone, is still here. Worthy followup to their debut. And when is EMI going to reissue that original cover for everyone?

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Custom Built Review

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(More customer reviews)Bret Michaels seems to be everywhere lately. The Poison front man and solo artist has done 3 seasons of Rock of Love for television, appeared on The Apprentice and a few other tv shows, received publicity for the song "Nothing To Lose" which featured Miley Cyrus and was in the hospital not too long ago. But to be honest I was always more of a fan of the music he did with and outside of Poison than I am of his newfound celebrity status. I liked the material Bret released with Poison, especially the first few albums, and to some extend his solo career. Custom Built is Bret`s fifth studio solo album, sixth if you count 2008`s Rock My World which had only 3 new songs and was mostly a greatest hits of his solo career up to that point and a promotional tool for his Rock of Love series.
I think the material here is supposed to appeal to fans of the Rock of Love series or just Bret Michaels who don`t know anything about his past music. A duet with Miley Cyrus was sure to bring Bret some attention on radio and bring him new fans who weren`t familiar with him. I don`t mean the material on the album is bad but this is almost the same thing Rock My World was, old songs with a few new thrown in and remixes. There are 12 songs on Custom Built of which 7 are new songs, there are two bonus songs included with the digital download only (other versions of new songs Lie To Me and Wasted Time). Out of those seven songs there`s the song for his new tv show Riding Against The Wind (which is a very good song, I`ll give him that) Nothing To Lose with Miley Cyrus (which depending how you view it might be good or absolute trash) plus a solo version of the same song. There`s also a cover song "What I Got", another version of Every Rose Has It`s Thorn (I don`t like this version, I thought it was such a personal song that including all those musicians kind of ruined it for me in the end) and two new songs Lie To Me and Wasted Time which are good. Bret stays with the country-rock formula that he has stuck with his entire solo career, for the most part it`s a pleasant sound and it works for him.
So here`s a summary of what Bret did on Custom Built:
-Two new mixes of Driven (that song has been on Freedom of Sound, Rock My World, Acoustic sessions and now on Custom Built) and Go That Far. The mixes are not bad but the songs are not new.
-Two versions of a new song Nothing To Lose.
-His new television show`s theme song.
-Two other new songs (total of five "brand new" songs)
-A new version of Every Rose Has It`s Thorn with other artists.
-A cover song.
-Two Songs from "Freedom of Sound".
-One song from "A Letter From Death Row".
Correct me if I`m wrong but there doesn`t seem to be a whole lot of new on Custom Built. What`s on the album is definitely not bad but I`d prefer all-new material especially considering how Rock My World had only three new songs. If you just want the new songs go ahead but otherwise you will probably be deceved.I think the two new mixes are not bad, but rather unnecessary. Plus doing a new version of Every Rose Has Its Thorn seems useless as well if it`s not going to be that great. I don`t think Michaels will really impress anyone here but his new material is true to himself which is not a bad thing. As much as I love Bret as a musicians I`d recommend this to casual fans and collectors only. I can`t give this more than two stars unfortunately.


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Includes new songs "Riding Against the Wind," "Lie to Me," "Wasted Time," a remake of Sublime's "What I Got," "Nothing to Lose" (featuring Miley Cyrus), and bonus remix of "Go That Far," the theme song from ROCK OF LOVE, and more!Happily, Bret is making a full recovery and committed to being back to 100 percent health as soon as possible and is ready to rock the world once again! On the heels of becoming a finalist on Celebrity Apprentice, Bret hit the road and will be on tour throughout the Summer and Fall. You can also see Bret in his new VH1 show, "Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It," which will begin airing this September.

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