Poison - Flesh & Blood

After Look What the Cat Dragged In in 1986 and Open Up and Say... Ahh! in 1988, two outstanding albums in their own right, Poison found it in their hearts to start the decade off with the best album of their career, and the best album to come out in 1990. Flesh & Blood has it absolutely all, from the rockers that everyone loved back in the day, passing through the ballads that made our hearts tremble, and all over it adorned with a plethora of songs not released as singles that put many bands to shame.

Going through changes was one of the many things that made Poison exciting. Starting out as an all-girl quartet (well, almost!) with their 1986 debut album, in whose cover you see them in full makeup, and then toning it down a bit in their 1988 sophomore release, Poison was ready for yet another change in looks, as the back cover photo of Flesh & Blood lets us see. Out went the heavy makeup of the past and the leather and lace, and we see just four long-haired guys with jeans and boots. But the picture is the least important part of this album. The music is what won our hearts because it is good.

The songs released as singles were all great, for sure, especially Something to Believe In, which managed to shut the mouths of many a critic who, well, shot their mouths off at the songwriting abilities of Poison. This song and Ride the Wind were the definite winners as far as musicality goes, but Unskinny Bop was the high point in pure staying power, since it played on radios around the world for a long time after.

So, the singles being great and all, what about the rest of the album? After all, there were five singles and 13 songs in all! There are many gems hidden away in Flesh & Blood, some of them being Valley of Lost Souls, Let It Play, Don't Give Up An Inch and Ball and Chain. All of these are amazing songs that could've made positively hit singles, especially considering the "hit power" of Poison. The last song, Poor Boy Blues, even gave us, and them, a little taste of what was to come in 1993's release, Native Tongue, musically speaking, perhaps their best album to date.

But there is always that one song, you know? That song that you know is the best. The kind that grabs you from the very first time time you listen to it. That track to which you imagine the video for playing on Mtv, but that, sadly, never comes. Life Loves A Tragedy is that song in Flesh & Blood. The song reminds me that all those people that ever thought of singer Bret Michaels, guitarist C.C. DeVille, bassist Bobby Dall and drummer Rikki Rockett as not real musicians were dead wrong, not because it is a musical masterpiece, but because it has everything that makes a good rock song become a great rock song. Listen to it once, and you'll know what I mean.

Reasons to buy this album:

1) The best album of 1990 and probably one of the most solid hard rock releases to be, well... released!
2) It's pretty cool to have an album that has as a cover a tattoo from the drummer's arm dripping blood (if you can find the very hard-to-find original album cover).
3) Life Loves A Tragedy

Flesh & Blood is an album that grows on you pretty rapidly. We're talking getting to the boiling point in a New York minute and then simmering for the rest of your life. Go. Do yourself the favor.