It's easy to believe that the four members of Belgium's All I Know spent lots of time listening to their parents' record collections while growing up. The slick influences of Def Leppard, Poison and Bon Jovi can be heard throughout the band's 39-minute debut Vanity Kills. Just look at some of the song titles on this thing: "All Night Long," "Bad Boy," "Into Your Heart," "I Wanna Rock You," "Sweet 17," "Hopes and Dreams." You can almost smell the Aqua Net from those alone, even though the flat-haired guys in All I Know look like they belong in some punk-pop-emo band.
Those listeners who still need an Eighties fix every once in awhile will be thrilled upon hearing this album. "Asphyxia" wouldn't sound out of place on one of those big-hair ballad compilations and a new remix of "Rain" by producer Beau Hill opens with a wailing guitar solo that recalls Poison's "I Won't Forget You" and transitions into a chorus worthy of classic Winger. Vanity Kills was self-released by All I Know in 2009 before upstart Australian label MelodicRockRecords.com picked it up in 2010; for this version, the band has added a handful of new songs and new cover art.
Who knows if an album like Vanity Kills would have gotten lost in the musical crowd 25 years ago? And, really, who cares? Hell, these guys probably weren't even alive back then. All I know is that All I Know fills a void for today's hungry melodic hard rock fans tired of spinning decades-old greatest-hits discs.
Track Listing:
1) All Night Long
2) Bad Boy
3) Asphyxia
4) Rain (Beau Hill Remix 2010)
5) Turn Back Time
6) I Need You
7) Into Your Heart
8) I Wanna Rock You
9) Sweet 17
10) Teenage Queen
11) All the Way
12) Hope and Dreams
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