L.A. Guns

For anyone who's been waiting for this 1999 album from L.A. Guns to be reissued… uh, anyone still reading? The first thing that stands out on this disc is the demo-like production, which is shocking, considering ex-Guns N' Roses dude Gilby Clarke handled knob-twiddling duties. Noted sleaze howler Jizzy Pearl is behind the mic, and on tracks like "Dreamtime" and "Barbed Wire" (two acoustic songs, placed at positions three and four!), he brings back good memories of some of the best on the strip, but his balls-out howling on the rockers doesn't pack the same punch. And, yeah, guitarist Tracii Guns is in the house, but back in '99, this house was foreclosed and the vibe and feel of this one embody that, with the rock sounding forced and not a whole lot of fun. Not exactly worthy of a reissue, Shrinking Violet is for the true diehards only. However, the live songs spice things up a bit, if only because they're mostly older tunes.