Warrant - Rockaholic

Warrant has had a revolving door, as far as vocalists are concerned, over the past 5+ years or so.  The band has been on again off again, with original vocalist Janie Lane, but finally pulled the plug on him a couple years ago, and brought in former Lynch Mob/Big Cock vocalist Robert Mason to take the reigns.  The band tried this about 6 years ago with Black 'N Blue front man Jaime St. James, but brought Lane back into the fold after a lack of success.  Lane lasted less than a year before imploding, once again, and breaking the camels back. 

The band has been going strong for 2 years now since recruiting Mason, and have never sounded better.  It is hard to replace a guy like Lane, because: A. His signature vocals on some of the biggest hard rock hits of the late 80's and 90's and B. He wrote the majority of the tunes back in the day.  This would be no simple feat, but the band were up for the challenge, and have just released their latest CD Rockaholic.

Rockaholic is one of the best CD's I've had the chance to listen to this year.  Had Genghis not taken the honors this month, this would have been my pick for CD of the month.  The band are re-invigorated on this new disk and sound better than ever.  The addition of Mason is just the shot in the arm that the band needed.  Rockaholic is chocked full of solid hard rockers, containing killer hooks and catchy choruses. There is a nice variety of rockers, anthems and ballads.

One thing to point out though, is that if you're looking for the classic Warrant sound, then you may be disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, there are some songs that resurrect the past sound, but for the most part, the majority of the tunes have an identity of their own.   The songs have a classic 80's feel, but with a current sound.  There is a little more of a bluesy vibe, which had to be injected by Mason, I'm thinking.  Tracks like Sex Ain't Love and Innocence Gone take you back in the day, when mullets where accepted and hair spray was a common purchase.  These tracks ooze attitude, and will get you rocking immediately.  A solid release from start to finish.  There may have been a few hiccups around tracks 8 and 9, but they didn't take away from this great release.

Bottom Line: This is the strongest disk the band has put out since Cherry Pie. The band are firing on all cylinders and working as a cohesive unit.  Let's hope this line up stays in tact.

Standout Tracks: Lifes a Song, Sex Ain't Love, Dusty's Revenge and Found Forever.

-Ragman wished he was dirty rotten filthy stinkin rich.