Warrant Albums (7)
'Born Again'
Release Date 4/4/2006
Tracks 12
Label MTM Music & Publish
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What The Critics Say
Just as the Born Again title has been employed on dozens of albums by other artists -- including fellow metalheads Black Sabbath -- don't expect Warrant to stretch the boundaries anywhere else on this disc. You can expect them to deliver a superb set of hard rock songs that sound and feel better than most music from the '80s, however. "Dirty Jack" is a perfect candidate for a sequel to anything written by AC/DC. Derivative? Highly -- but these guys are masters of the genre and it is so well done that you can't help but tip your hat to the boys for keeping their metallic integrity pure. Produced by Pat "Scissor Hands" Regan, there are great sounds tucked inside "Hell, CA" and "Roxy," though it would have been prudent to take Steven Sweet's ride cymbal away from him. The pedestrian drums are the CD's only downer -- the sound and the playing are just too mundane, and a bit of phasing and some sampling could've put this over the top. And that's because the dozen originals are all very fine. The opening track, "Devils Juice," with the great line "got the devil inside," rocks out hard with nice chorus vocals that would make Kiss proud. Released five years after Under the Influence -- an album that could be considered this ensemble's The Spaghetti Incident? -- the originals here are all solid and communicate the message and the mission. Boy, if this had been released in 1985 it could've been a monster of monsters. Hindsight being 20/20, Warrant prove decades after the fact that consistency and faith in the original concept isn't a bad thing. The production is so excellent that, combined with the attitude, this will have no problem fitting in at modern rock radio. The problem is perception, and with few programmers willing to risk playing something great in favor of what is considered "now," a nice performance like "Bourbon County Line" will no doubt remain something special only for the already converted. "Down in Diamonds" and "Roller Coaster" deliver the goods, though vocalist Jaime St. James doesn't need to emulate Axl Rose on the latter, as well as on the ballad "Glimmer." ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Under the Influence is Warrant's first set since 1995's Ultraphobic. It's a collection of covers for the most part, although there are two new studio tracks tacked onto the end. Of these, "Face" is stronger, with its update of the classic pop-metal harmony style. But Influence is really about paying homage to Warrant's influences, and letting the band loose on material they've obviously been playing since their own inception. Jani Lane's intonation is perfect during Thin Lizzy's "Hollywood"; he has that slight air of danger down pat. "Surrender" is appropriately sunny, while "Suffragette City" seems to have the showman vibe of David Lee Roth to it. What's best about Influence is the band's care to remain faithful, while still refueling the songs with gallons of the blathering cockiness that has always defined their sound. Need another example? Check out their rocking run-through of the Nazareth gem, "Hair of the Dog," which arrives complete with dirty talk box guitar. The phaser vocals on Badfinger's "Come and Get It" are a little much, but any of these covers -- not to mention the two new songs -- should be thoroughly enjoyable for the group's longtime fans. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Ultraphobic'
Release Date 1/13/1998
Tracks 11
Label CMC International
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'Belly to Belly'
Release Date 10/1/1996
Tracks 14
Label CMC International
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What The Critics Say
Warrant became the stars they so desperately wanted to be with their 1989 debut, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. Perhaps not the biggest stars, since Guns n' Roses still ruled the roost in 1989, but Warrant nearly reached number one with "Heaven" and went platinum, which gave them the spoils of a rock star, from groupies and model girlfriends to being given the freedom to try anything they wanted on their second record. So, working once again with producer Beau Hill -- who helped define the L.A. hair metal sound with his work with Ratt -- the group opted for a bigger, bolder, more diverse production for 1990's Cherry Pie. At times, it even seems like they're trying to get a little more serious, not in hopes of gaining critical respect -- face it, there's no way the critics were going to flip for Warrant, no matter what they did -- but to prove that there's a little bit more to them than the success-n-sex-obsessed party boys of their debut. Not too much more, though -- after all this is a record that explicitly explains the euphemism of its title track through its album cover. Nevertheless, there is a concentrated effort to stretch a little bit, whether it's covering Blackfoot's bluesy "Train, Train" or the attempt at spooky storytelling on "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or even the elaborate arrangement on "I Saw Red," this album's attempt at a big power ballad hit. Throughout the album there are hints that the band is trying do more musically -- more room given to guitar solos, along with flashing acoustic picking, bassist Jerry Dixon pops his strings to get himself noticed, there are more keyboards, and vocalist Jani Lane spends more time on his words, which are printed in the booklet, unlike last time. Some of this pays off -- for instance, the Springsteen by way of Bon Jovi anthem "Bed of Roses" clicks -- but it can also weigh down the party tunes and power ballads, the very thing that were strengths on the debut. It makes Cherry Pie less fun even if it's overall more accomplished and diverse, particularly because none of the singles are as strong as either "Down Boys" or "Heaven." Still, there's enough here -- whether it's the goofy title track "Cherry Pie," the effective "Uncle Tom's Cabin," or the ridiculous ode to threesomes, "Love in Stereo" -- to make this worthwhile for those who loved Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, even if it doesn't hold up as well as that record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich'
Release Date 3/21/1989
Tracks 10
Label Columbia
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What The Critics Say
Other bands were bigger, other bands were better, but no other group embodied the spirit of late-'80s hair metal as much as Warrant. They were slick and tuneful, cheerfully shallow and gussied up to look prettier than they actually are. It was the era in a nutshell -- proud to be all surface and no depth. That aesthetic is what drives their debut, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, an album where they shake and shimmy like rock stars because that's what they desperately want to be. To achieve that, they distilled the sounds of L.A. at the time, where everybody used Van Halen and Kiss as a template, balancing the former's guitar hero antics and flamboyant sex-god frontman with the latter's big dumb riffs and pop hooks. Warrant surely weren't the first to do it -- Ratt and Poison brought it into the mainstream a few years earlier -- but the glossy package of Dirty Rotten makes it emblematic of its time. It's sleek and clean, built on processed guitars and cavernous drums, never taking more time than it needs, pushing the hooks front and center, along with a mile-wide sentimental streak best heard on the power ballads "Sometimes She Cries" and "Heaven," which sold this album to a wider, largely female audience that was also enamored with frontman Jani Lane's pretty looks. But don't be mistaken -- those are two slow moments on an album that's a party record, the time when the lights dim and the kids sway in a slow dance. The rest of this is good-time pop-metal, all professionally done but leaving little lasting impression, outside of the tremendous "Down Boys," which sounds exactly the same as the rest of the record but has an indelible chorus and is the one time when the band actually sounds powerful instead of preening. But it's hard to criticize an album for not making a lasting impression when it was designed to be in the moment, something to blast at keggers and when cruising through town. It severed its purpose in 1989, and years later, it sounds exactly like that year, both for better and worse. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
