01. It's All The Same To me
02. Speed
03. A Drop Of Bleach
04. Sticky Fingers
05. Christine
06. Baby Gotta Fever
07. Kill It Or Die
08. Don't Bring A Knife To A
Gunfight
09. The Flood's The Fault Of
The Rain
10. The Devil Made Me Do It
11. The Missing Peace
12. Gave It All Away
Lead guitarist Tracii Guns has finally re-joined the band after several years, and The Missing Peace is a bit like a comeback album, despite the fact that they never really went away. At least fans no longer have the confusion of two different bands being called L.A Guns, when Tracii decided to put together his own version of the band for a while. For me, the sound of L.A Guns has always been defined by the unmistakable, and eternally cool voice of main man Phil Lewis.
I hate to piss on their PR company's bonfire, but L.A Guns have always been a good band, regardless of whether or not Tracii Guns was with them at the time. The previous album, 2012's Hollywood Forever is one of their best, and proves my point. Regardless, the return of the band's founder has rekindled interest in them, and now is the perfect time for L.A Guns to unleash a killer record and put them back to the top of the Sleaze Rock pack.
In a nutshell, The Missing Peace is a good L.A Guns album. Nothing more, nothing less. As usual with their records, there are some excellent songs, and some I'm not so keen on. Speed was a great choice for the first single, and it's possibly the best song on the album. The ballads Christine and The Flood's The Fault Of The Rain are also particularly strong, and future L.A Guns classics.
The production isn't great. It's far from terrible, but I have a feeling the band was going for a vintage, retro sound, and instead it just sounds cheap. A number of bands whose heyday was back in the 80's are living the same story (check out my reviews of the latest albums from Vain and Autograph). Their new albums sound low budget, and younger Hard Rock bands, e.g. Crazy Lixx, H.E.A.T, Santa Cruz, are making records that are sonically far superior. It's a sad case of the old being eclipsed by the new.
The Missing Peace will appeal to existing fans, and is a great nostalgia trip. I doubt they'll build their fan base, and appeal to a younger generation off the back of it, sounding the way it does. It's a shame, because if the production was better, I honestly believe it could have rekindled their career and given it a massive boost, as opposed to keeping it chugging along merrily.
The production isn't great. It's far from terrible, but I have a feeling the band was going for a vintage, retro sound, and instead it just sounds cheap. A number of bands whose heyday was back in the 80's are living the same story (check out my reviews of the latest albums from Vain and Autograph). Their new albums sound low budget, and younger Hard Rock bands, e.g. Crazy Lixx, H.E.A.T, Santa Cruz, are making records that are sonically far superior. It's a sad case of the old being eclipsed by the new.
The Missing Peace will appeal to existing fans, and is a great nostalgia trip. I doubt they'll build their fan base, and appeal to a younger generation off the back of it, sounding the way it does. It's a shame, because if the production was better, I honestly believe it could have rekindled their career and given it a massive boost, as opposed to keeping it chugging along merrily.
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