1.]
"Let's Get Rocked"
Horrendous. After years of listening to "Hysteria" almost exclusively, this was
absolute blasphemy. It is rock, and very Leppish indeed, but it seems light and trite
compared to the the killer hits from the previous disc. It just lacked in every imaginable
way, from repetitive lyrics to the forgettable melody and chorus... however, after many
years in retrospective it isn't really as bad as it originally seemed. A decent rocker,
but nothing more or less.
2.] "Heaven Is"
The alluring purring of the bridge slams
into a flowing chorus that packs a truckload of pomp and melodic punch... the rest of the
verses string across with alot of potential, spiced by Joe Elliot's unique voice and over
powering British accent. The rhythmic feel is jumpy and pronounced, lyrics strung
together with quickness. Its all about the cat and mouse play between man and woman,
sly promises, the recall of pleasurable memories and an answering machine message that
realizes every man's secret (or ah, not-so-secret) fantasy. Oh this gal is truly
'Miss Magic', and as for the song, its not too bad either.
3.]
"Making Love Like A Man"
My personal feelings for this particular track is a desperate struggle between love and
hate. Sometimes it hits the spot with the overwhelming feel of the male ego pressing down,
suffocating the female listener with large doses of pure testosterone. This can be
deliciously postitive, but at times its a little too over the top in both pompous
presentation and lyrical content that go along with it. . The flow is not as melodic nor
the theme as universal as past (and more popular) tracks in similiar sexual situations
such as "Armageddonit" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me".
4.] "Tonight"
The relaxed melodies flow by like a silky chiffon fabric flickering in the soft breeze,
taking a slow seductive turn filled with a sense of sexual longing. The lyrics mimic this
with an easy flowing beautiful elegance. Carressingly sensual and disturbingly erotic, its
easy to slip between the dreamlike layers that tingle with tiny shivers of desire sparked
by a promise ("when you get that rhythm...") and an invitation ("...you can
move into my room"). The video featured sheep rather prominently, but that's a
subject I'm not even touching.
5.] "White Lightning"
This is a round-about tribute to Steve Clark. A song that he was working on in the writing
stage before his death is finished up and recorded with an almost frightening level of
emotional depth. Phil Collin's guitar oftentimes sounds eeriely similiar to Clark's
playing style. Musically it probes into the darkness of a lost soul, muddled with the all
consuming disease of alcholism and the slow tragic downward spiral into the unknown. The
riffs cling desperately to life, wandering in circles of confusion while the drums beat
on, the rhythm of an unchangable path. Beating into the yawning chasm of fate, if you
will. Lurking and swirling, darkened and depressing, a saddened celebration of the turmoil
and trials of life, but its as if the troubled ghost of Steve lives within.
6.] "Personal Property"
Most women wouldn't appreciate being referred to as property, but this zippy track is
bursting with cuteness that helps to conceal the controversial theme of male
possessiveness. Joe's distinctive accent mangles a few of the words, so when strung
together in a quick machine gun succession they tend to fall over one another making the
entire picture difficult to grasp at first listen. It wasn't until years later that I
managed to decipher some of the lyrics with the help of them actually written out and
posted on the internet.
7.] "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)"
Truly and positively addictive. It strikes the perfect balance between hard rock and
melody driven AOR. Joe Elliot's rich accent gives this one a maddeningly wonderful slant
that otherwise would have been lost if performed by another vocalist. He was just made to
sing this song, and with Collin's deceptively simple guitar riffs that with a closer look
reveal an entire new world of electric bliss underneath, turn this into a celebration of
melodic hard rock. Distinctive melodies that are recognizable from the first few notes to
a soul rousing chorus, this is pretty damn close to AOR perfection.
8.] "Have U Ever Needed Someone So Bad"
Another yearning track of unrequited love, which seems to be a popular and recurring theme
for this album. A full fledged frilly power ballad of epic 80s porportions that packs more
punch than the slippery sexy "Tonight" but is not quite as upbeat as "Stand
Up", falling somewhere inbetween the two worlds. The obsessed and all consuming want
for an unobtainable object of desire is presented in a free flowing sob fest that conveys
both the heartbreak and urgency of being unable to turn off that need like flicking a
light switch and the sorrow and crushing frustration that follows.
9.] "I Wanna Touch U"
A brash, upfront piece that outlines the 'must have' purely physical need for the opposite
sex, making no excuses for such drives from nature. The next step after "Have U
Ever..." perhaps? The chorus is notably enjoyable, and there's plenty of guitar
antics to whet the appetites of the axefans and technical watcher.
10.] "Tear Down the Walls"
A good upbeat rocker. This one edged its way onto the album by ecstatic fan reaction after
it was played live in concert a couple of times. It became a 'must have' addition to the
disc and is one of those songs that comes across better in concert than it does recorded
live. Energetic but not quite up to the frenetic energy it was performed with originally,
it makes a nice lighthearted closure to the album, but is not dramatic or memorable enough
to remain in the subconsciousness for any kind of extended period afterwards. |
