In Concert – Lita Ford

Lita Ford's In Concert disc on Cleopatra is the re-release of Greatest Hits Live!, originally circulated on the Dead Line imprint in both the U.S. in 2000 and in Germany in 2003. It opens up with an "exclusive studio track," "Nobody's Child," co-written by veteran guitarist Glen Burtnik with backing from a different group than the one that provides instrumentation on the concert tape. "Nobody's Child" is solid anthemic rock, as is "Larger Than Life," which kicks off the live side of things. If you're looking for Runaways chestnuts or material from her first two solo discs from the early '80s you won't find that here, as the tunes are culled from 1988's Lita, 1990's Stiletto, and 1991's Dangerous Curves albums. Recorded "at one of Lita's favorite watering holes in southern California" by Westwood One, this is quite possibly a radio broadcast, though there's no info on which "watering hole" Lita and the boys rocked, nor is there a date. The six-page booklet unfolds to create a mini-poster of the metal priestess on one side with the credits on the flip. It sounds like your regular FM broadcast of a tight and entertaining hit artist on the road, and is a decent document of Ford in action. At times she sounds like the group Heart, especially on "Black Widow" and "What Do You Know About Love," also dipping quite often into the Kiss bag by placing a heavy chorus inside the hard rock. In fact, the first five tunes all fall into that category -- heavy rock and heavy chorus hooks. It's fun with no frills, a female guitar hero delivering the goods and putting some of her best-known material out in her stage show. Lita's cover of "Only Women Bleed" is absent, but the disc does display an impressive bunch of cohorts who have written with the veteran over the years -- Chip Taylor, Lemmy Kilmister, Nikki Sixx, Ozzy Osbourne, Jim Vallance, and others. "Can't Catch Me" has a hook that is unique and won't quit, while "Rock Candy" (a cover of Montrose) closes out the set in an overtly sexual but slow -- for Lita -- groove. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide