Search - Slaughter :: Stick It to Ya

An underrated rock classic...............

Some Gravity | Indiana, USA | 03/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By the time the 1990's had arrived, it would not be too long until the hair band era died. As a matter of fact,when hair bands died, the only ones that survived were Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, and Poison. That was too bad, because among others, there was another one of those talented hair bands that would find their talent soon underrated due to the succesful arrival of grunge rock. That band was Slaughter. Once Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum were gone from The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, they started Slaughter and hired two musicians who, at the time, were unknown: drummer Blas Elias and guitarist Tim Kelly. The talents of Slaughter, Strum, Elias, and Kelly all resulted in "Stick It To Ya", an underrated rock classic. This album gave Blas Elias and Tim Kelly the opportunity to really show off their talents for the first time, and Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum both shined when they were with Vinnie Vincent, but this was the first time they got to show off their songwriting talents. Neither one of them co-wrote any of Invasion's songs. Songs like "Up All Night", "Mad About You", "Loaded Gun", etc are all fun to jam along to, and ballads like "You Are The One", "Spend My Life", "Fly To The Angels", among others, are also enjoyable to listen to. While "Fly To The Angels" was written about letting go of someone, "You Are The One" sounds like a song any guy missing his girlfriend would write for her as a "Please Come Back" song. "Spend My Life" makes for not only a great hard rock song, but it would also serve as a good song for a wedding. "Desperately" polishes a slick 80's feel with the lyrics and the bass line, proving that Dana Strum is one of the most talented and underrated bassists in rock music. All of the songs on this album are great, and if you like Slaughter, then you will probably not find one weak moment on this CD. Unfortunately, the death of original Slaughter guitarist Tim Kelly in a car crash in 1998 would slow Slaughter down, and to this date, even though they are still touring, Slaughter has only put out one album with Jeff Blando, who was hired as Kelly's replacement. But you can catch Mark Slaughter on the road either with Dokken, Warrant, Alice Cooper, or on a tribute record. Also, a few years ago when I was lucky enough to get to see Blue Man Group perform live, I got to see Blas Elias perform live as the Blue Man Group drummer, as it is Elias himself who does all of the Blue Man shows at The Luxor. If you ever go to Vegas, make sure you don't miss the Blue Man Group show- Elias and the show itself are both great! Do you miss the days when hair bands like Warrant were big? Are you a fan of hair bands like Motley Crue? Well, if the answer to both of those questions is yes, pick up either the original version of this album or the re-issued version that has four bonus tracks and new liner notes. You won't be dissapointed."

Stick It To Ya Sticks With Ya

J. Wright | San Diego, CA United States | 05/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I first heard Fly to the Angels and Up All Night, I knew I liked this band. Marc Slaughter has a nice lead vocal and sings some good ballads. Slaughter is what I would call a pop metal band in line with Firehouse and White Lion. They put out some nice rockin' ballads, not much hard stuff.Their debut album is chocked full of good songs, especially Spend My Life, Eye to Eye, Burning Bridges, You Are the One, Mad About You and Desperately. I could skip She Wants More and Loaded Gun. Wingin' It is kinda fun, too.This is the best album from Slaughter. The 1992 release, The Wild Life, is okay. Mass Slaughter (their "Best of" album) is made up primarily of these first two releases."

This album brings back good memories for a girl like me...

leekoibito@aol.com | United States of America | 04/24/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am 27 yrs old and when this album came out in 1990, I was 20. Hearing this all over again, reminded me of the wonderful times I spent with my best friend Christine, bonfires at the beach with friends, parties, going for drives without a destination. I feel so old when I look back. Time flies...Thank you for the memories and the CD again."