Seven Days Live [DVD] - Poison

No nonsense and no holds barred, Seven Days Live is a superbly produced DVD of the band Poison at London's Hammersmith Apollo theater. Unlike the graying Osmond Brothers' (musically and visually!) contemporary recording in 2006, this is vintage stuff from April 23, 1993, with Poison pretty much in their prime. Don't expect more than the 15 selections here, and there are no frills except for a six-page Cherry Red Records catalog insert booklet and an additional advertisement on the DVD. However, there's nothing wrong with a great concert on disc and that's exactly what this is. Bret Michaels is a fantastic frontman/singer and he and drummer Rikki Rockett, Bobby Dall on bass, and C.C. DeVille's replacement, Richie Kotzen, on guitar rock out and rock out hard. This was, obviously, the Native Tongue tour, and since Kotzen wasn't going to last with the group, it's an even more important document of a brief moment in the glam band's career. Beautifully directed by Duncan Smith and cleanly edited by Marc Davies, there are lots of cuts over the dynamic playing, and wonderful lighting that adds to the mystique. Kotzen takes off his shirt and has the look -- and the chops -- to make this 82-minute frozen moment in time a grade-A effort from a band that knows how to control every aspect of a heavy metal stage. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is here, along with five more of their ten Top 40 hits as well as nine other titles. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide