Don't push "play" on this collection of previously unreleased songs originally recorded in 1989 by Sunset Strip never-beens Rattleshake and expect to hear something nut-busting original. The remastered songs on this self-titled CD released by Eonian Records — self-proclaimed as "the world's premier hard rock & metal archive label" that "unashamedly promot[es] never before released kick-ass 80s and early 90s hard rock & metal" — feature former Flame vocalist Don McBee and transport listeners back to the era of big hair, snakeskin pants and bare chests.
Although members of Rattleshake freely admit today that the band never came close to making it big, this seven-song collection proves Rattleshake would have fit right in with some of the scene's bigger players. "Gypsy Queen" sounds like a rewrite of Tesla's "Modern Day Cowboy," "Take Me Down" opens with a bluesy swagger that echoes Great White's "Rock Me," "Shootin' Whiskey" rips off Mötley Crüe and the big power ballad "Never Say Goodbye" borrows its title from Bon Jovi and its style from Skid Row. The best song here is "Jump On Me" — not because it's original or anything (I hear some Britny Fox in the opening riffs), but because it rocks like a sleazy mofo, with a dark and slimy underbelly that perfectly complements McBee's leering vocals.
This is, plain and simple, a fun listen. As the nostalgia-laced liner notes state, "Hard rock bands are not created to play music that could pose as a cure for insomnia, hard rock bands are created to blast speakers and peel the plaster right off the walls."
Track Listing:
1) Shootin' Whiskey
2) Gypsy Queen
3) Take Me Down
4) Mudbone Delight
5) Jump On Me
6) Never Say Goodbye
7) Rattleshake Boogie
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