Lita Ford Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
Though former Runaways guitarist Lita Ford has been absent from the recording industry since 1997, she hasn't exactly been idle. After releasing Kiss Me Deadly, her final album after a string of them in the '80s and '90s, the music scene -- and the industry with it -- changed, and alternative ruled the airwaves. Ford got married to Jim Gillette, former vocalist with hair metal rockers Nitro, and started a family. In addition, she relocated to the Caribbean. Wicked Wonderland is uncharacteristic of the pop-metal she released a decade ago. It's an in-your-face metal record, but ultimately it's a very studied and calculated 21st century pop-metal record. It's an album with explicit sexual content, examining S&M, bondage, power exchanges, and all manner of kink and crave in lyrics, words, and sleeve images. Ford wrote all of these songs with her co-producers Greg Hampton and Gillette. Gillette is also either a duet partner or backing vocalist on every track here. Hampton handles bass, keyboard, and other sonic duties, and there are a pair of drummers who alternate in Chris Collier and Stet Howland. The album's first single (and longest track), "Bed," was released exclusively to Stockroom.com, one of the leading suppliers of S&M and bondage gear on the internet. Ford claims that she and her husband have carved out a path to a happy family life, and it does seem that they detail it on this recording. Musically, while Wicked Wonderland is harder, edgier, darker, and more visceral than anything she's released in the past, this is still a very pop-oriented heavy music recording. The songs have hooks as well as blazing guitars and triple-time drumbeats, and they're saturated in keyboards and samplers. Metal has morphed and changed so radically in the last decade, this record sounds more like a late White Zombie tribute album than it does a contemporary metal recording. Check out the hooks in tracks like "Indulge," or the post-'80s metallic musical architecture of "Scream 4 Me," or even the industrial keyboard sounds combined with growling death metal vocals, and Ford's own almost-nostalgic balladic style, all of which make for something that feels not quite of the moment and something not quite dated, either. It also provides a link, however thinly disguised, of the persona she displayed on her earlier recordings. With the proper marketing strategy it will get some play and push in certain quarters of the music world, and perhaps in some markets not even normally associated with music. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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
What The Critics Say
After working with power pop hero Mike Chapman on Stiletto, Lita Ford switched producers on Dangerous Curves and joined forces with another in-demand studio ace, Tom Werman. The result is a decent collection of slick, commercial hard rock that isn't much different from its predecessor. Glossy pop-metal cuts like "Black Widow," "Hellbound Train" and "Playin' with Fire" aren't the gems that Ford is quite capable of delivering (anyone familiar with her work with the Runaways knows just how talented she is), but they're fun and spirited. "Bad Love," meanwhile, is a noteworthy example of her dramatic ballad style. Ford gets in some nice guitar solos, reminding us that she definitely has solid chops. There are no weak or poor songs on this CD; it's just that there aren't any breathtaking ones either. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Though they had their moments, Lita Ford's PolyGram albums tended to be uneven. When the graduate of the Runaways -- a great but neglected '70s band that also boasted Joan Jett and Cherie Currie -- moved to Dreamland/RCA in 1988, her solo career got somewhat of a boost, both creatively and commercially. On Stiletto, the input of hit producer/songwriter Mike Chapman is an asset. Though not outstanding, the album is a focused and generally enjoyable disc ranging from sweaty rockers like "Cherry Red," "Bad Boy" and "The Ripper" to the eerie ballad "Lisa" to a cover of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed." Chapman, known for his work with everyone from Sweet to Scandal, liked his rock commercial, slick and hook-laden -- adjectives that definitely describe Stiletto. Nonetheless, Ford never lived up to her tremendous potential, and wasn't given many more chances -- with alternative rock's ascension in the mid-'90s, the type of hard rock and arena rock she specialized in went out of vogue. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Producer Mike Chapman helped Lita Ford craft her true breakthrough album, Lita, loading it with big, slick arena rock/pop-metal hooks and making it her most consistent solo album. Ford scored big hits with "Kiss Me Deadly" and the ballad "Close My Eyes Forever," the latter a duet with Ozzy Osbourne and the first Top Ten single for either. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Dancin' on the Edge is similar to Ford's previous solo records: it's carried more by her musical talent than by an abundance of quality songs. It has its moments... ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Out for Blood continued Lita Ford's penchant for sleazy rockers and big ballads typical of '80s pop-metal, but it didn't quite have the level of songcraft necessary to put her career over the top. Even if Ford doesn't share ex-Runaways bandmate Joan Jett's ear for quality material, Out for Blood does make a convincing case for Ford's abundant guitar skills. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
