Rose Tattoo

I'm a big fan of these Aussie's old jailhouse AC/DC-influenced blues-rock and I recommend picking up their first few albums if you can. Having said that, let's move on to the present. Two original Rose Tattoo members - singer Angry Anderson and Pete Wells - have teamed up with a new line-up in Germany for Pain, their first new album in 18 years. The German toughies and skinheads are sure to be rocking out at their many scheduled tour dates this summer but you sure won't be with this sub-standard new CD. I don't want to get beat up so I'll just say it's not as good as the old stuff and seems "a bit much," at times. I mean, song titles like "Hard Rockin' Man," "Seventeen Stitches" and "House Of Pain" show how rugged these old bastards are, but it just don't make for great listening.