Poison 1986-1991: Virtuoso Musicians and Great Chemistry

Bret Michaels: great singer with many different voices and guises (including an Elvis type) under his belt, plays acoustic guitar and keyboards.

Bobby Dall and Rikki Rockett: tremendous rhythm section with an uncanny ability to seem seamless and truly groove 'til the cows come home.

C. C. Deville: unique guitarist who excels at live playing, when he gets to stretch out and jam a bit.

Original Material: the only cover that the band relied upon heavily for their success was "Your Mama Don't Dance" by Loggins and Messina. The rest of their songs are wholly original creations.

 

Incapable of grooving. Unintentionally hilarious. Became caricatures of themselves.

 

Have you heard their live album?

 

Their cover of "Rock and Roll All Nite" from the Less Than Zero soundtrack was pretty popular.

 

Have you? I'll go to the wall defending the worthwhileness of their debut album, but to hyperbolically fete Poison as players is to be unmistakably taking the piss.

 

+1

 

A radio station in Knoxville, TN played it every day at 3 PM.

 

is the OP Eddie Trunk

 

Is there another band called Poison that I haven't heard about? One that''s actually any good?

 

the only "Poison" I rate is this one and they were actually pretty damn great: http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Poison/6728

 

I'll freely admit they managed to string together a bakers' dozen fun, enjoyable tunes during their run (although I include a few Native Tongue numbers in there) and the studio adequately covered up their musical shortcomings, but I randomly ended up seeing them for free in 2008 (I think?) and I was genuinely shocked at how all of them could barely play. Rikki's drumming, in particular, was horrifically sloppy, and especially awkward on the one tune ("Unskinny Bop") where he had to attempt to emulate an actual groove.

I have their best-of, and the Kotzen LP, and they're enjoyable, but in that era where it was actually cool and acceptable to be awesome at your instruments, I'm kind of amazed these guys ever got anywhere.

 

Who hasn't heard it? It is a platinum selling album on two CDs that ably demonstrates their virtuoso talents and chemistry when they stretch out their songs. If any of you out in Poison land hasn't heard it yet, by all means PICK IT UP AND ROCK OUT WITH THESE LORDS OF METAL.

"I Want Action": extra two minutes versus the studio cut
"Love On The Rocks" extra minute of rocking
"Poor Boy Blues": extra three minutes of music
"Nothin' But A Good Time": extra two minutes of rocking
"Life Goes On": extra minute of music

 

WOKI.

 

We are concerned with 1986-1991 in this thread.

 

I always assumed that to enjoy Poison one would require some great chemistry beforehand

 

Talk Dirty to Me was a ridiculous knockoff of Personality Crisis, and I can't stand Bret Michaels, but knowing C.C. from the L.A. scene and an ad hoc glam-cover band called Trash which used to play Madame Wong's West regularly that one of my old bandmates was in, he was a cool guitar player with his heart in the right place.

 

Not if you have a Poison DCC CD.

 

Never cared for their music or the genre in general, but one day back in the late 80s they came to Houston and a friend of mine had a young son (like 14 or 15) that wanted to go to the show, and I agreed to 'chaperone' (being all of like 22)--the lineup was Britny Fox, Lita Ford and Poison. Britny Fox was terrible (almost booed off the stage), Lita Ford was really good...about what you'd expect, and Poison were great. Great. Seriously. A super show, lots of lights, visuals, crowd was really into it, some nice rock'n'roll. Not a show I'd see again, but they brought it that night, for real.

FWIW, the other show I chaperoned for that young chap was Slaughter/Tesla/Great White. That too was a pretty awesome show, Tesla and Great White were nothing like their MTV image (at least I thought so at the time and I guess still do)--even more than Poison, they both were pretty much straight up rock, especially Great White. You know, sometimes a good show is a good show, even if it's not "your" music.

 

No such animal afaik.

 

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1402445&cart=205196765&style=music&Bab=E

 

I don't like the production on the Poison albums. Thin and digital sounding.

 

The live album is an audiophile recording.

 

Thanks for the chuckle, SP.

 

That Rikki Rockett could twirl a drum stick.

 

I like Poison. Really fine songwriting of catchy tunes but I can't say any of them are in the virtuoso category. Just listen to CC's un accompanied solo on the live album. There is a reason why Guitar World listed it as one of the worst solos of all time. He was fine when he stuck to the songs. Were you serious when you said he "excels at live playing"?