Jani Lane, the former lead singer of Warrant who unfortunately became known as "the 'Cherry Pie' guy," is one of those musicians you can't help but root for these days. Sure, it was easy to dislike the tall, blonde dude who seemed to not only get away with everything but get all the chicks, too. But Lane fell on hard times. His appearances on VH1's countdown shows and the Metal Mania Stripped DVD reveal an often bespectacled, unkempt man who alternately appears unseemly thin or unbecomingly bloated. On his May tour in support of his first solo album, Back Down to One, unconfirmed reports from the road surfaced before the gigs even began of Lane kick-starting his battle with the demons of addiction, and on top of that, his old band has released an album that's getting a bit of mainstream-media attention.
Back Down to One doesn't contain any potential smash hits, a la "Uncle Tom's Cabin," I Saw Red" or "Heaven," – hell, it doesn't even sound like a classic Warrant album, save for the ballad "Twilight," which would have made all the girls want Lane even more back in 1988. But the new record does have enough power-pop/rock moments to satisfy the curious and prove to longtime fans that Lane hasn't lost his songwriting knack. It's short – 11 songs in less than 35 minutes – and at Back Down to One's worst ("Funny," "Oh Yeah"), Lane sounds like a washed-up hair-metal hero trying to be relevant. But at its best ("How A Girl," "Don't Trust Me"), he comes off as a timeless Cheap Trick prodigy. And that is probably the highest compliment I can pay Janie Lane in 2006.
Take care of yourself, dude.
Track Listing:
1) Funny
2) Better Than You
3) Nothing
4) How A Girl
5) Back Down to One
6) Hooked
7) Oh Yeah
8) Don't Trust Me
9) Twilight
10) 6 Feet Under
11) Sick
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