Bret Michaels Book Coming

Poison were somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Sure their success owed as much to their image as to their songs but they did have a couple of good songs. Every Rose Has It’s Thorn was a classic rock ballad while others like Unskinny Bop and Nothing But A Good Time, were a recipe for, well, a “good time”.

Lead singer Bret Michaels always seemed like a good bloke and he wasn’t afraid to  take the piss out of himself and his bands hairspray metal genre.

Accordingly his upcoming biography entitled Roses and Thorns: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy to My Reality, should be a worthwhile read.

Michaels promises to deliver his share of  sex, drugs and rock and roll. He also plans to delve into the downside of his life experiences, writing about his diabetes and his long-time battles with guitarist CC DeVille, which apparently culminated in a fist fight on at least one occasion, which Michaels describes as “one of the harder things to live with, much less write about.”

Besides the book, Michaels has a reality television show called “Rock of Love,” which is currently in its third season and is one of the funnier reality shows on tv. Seen on cable here it follows Michaels as he puts a group of groupies to the test as they share a mansion and compete in a series of challenges for a chance to hook up  with lonely rock star Michaels.

The series so far has been hilarious as the woman pull no punches in seeking Bret’s affections and trying to chop each other out.  This season departs the mansion and takes to the road in a tour bus full of women who will vie for Michael’s affection.

Poison are expected to join Cheap Trick and Def Leppard on a US tour in the American summer.

Cheap Trick – Heaven Tonight

Cheap Trick managed to get it incredibly right on this 1978 album. It was their third and the teaming with producer Tom Werman made the Rockford, Illinois band’s sonics gel with their undeniably hooky rock songs.

The album opens with Surrender which still remains one of the great commercial rock songs. It’s a song of suburban escapism with just enough left field references (especially those to the WACS in the Philippines) to make it ear catching. By the time they paint the picture of Mom and Dad getting it on to the soundtrack of Kiss records you had a rock song for the ages. And what a chorus? – “Momma’s alright, Daddies alright/They just seem a little weird.” How could teenagers around the

From Surrender we stampede into On Top Of The World, my personal favourite Cheap Trick song which is the perfect showcase of why Robin Zander is one of the best lead singers in rock. He growls, he caresses and he soars – and he’s matched with an irresistible chorus.

The only song that the band didn’t write is next. California Man was contributed by one R.Wood and Zander vamps it up Elvis style while Rick Neilson contributes a chunky guitar performances that strips paint off the walls.

It’s clear by this stage of the album that Heaven Tonight is going to be the album that lifted Cheap Trick from contenders to champions. It wasn’t just the hit single Surrender that did it – and the bands longevity to the point that the still record and tour successfully today – over thirty years later – proves that they had the goods to back it up.

High Roller is an epic track combining some gritty hard rock riffing with the sublime melodies and harmonies that they bought to the fore on later hits.

Another song that has stood the test of time Auf Wiedersehen rounds out a brilliant side of rock. This song went on to be a highlight of the live show as the show closer and is a great showcase of the frenetic drumming of Bun E Carlos.

Side 2 was always going to have a hard time maintaining the standard set by Side 1 and the first song Takin’ Me Back is fairly standard fare. Similarly On The Radio is an all to deliberate attempt at a radio referencing pop song which doesn’t really ignite. The DJ track is too similar of an idea to Meatloaf’s play-by-play in Paradise By The Dashboard Light.

However the title track really adds a new dimension to the album. Strangely located at Track 8 (not the normal place for a title track) Heaven Tonight is a  spooky, gothic sounding ballad. It sounds a bit dated now, but at the time it gave the album an Alice Cooper-like change of pace.

Stiff Competition is punky riff rocker with an overtly sexual theme that shakes loose the mood after the darker Heaven Tonight and is another vocal tour de force for Zander.

The album closes with the quirky How Are You? which is an impossibly catchy little honky tonk pop song that points to the direction that would win the band several big hits later in their career.

Heaven Tonight also made no bones about the way the band was going to be marketed. The absolutely photogenic Zander and Tom Petersson featured on the front cover all doe –eyed and pretty while the wacky and nerdy looking Neilson and Carlos where relegated to the back cover looking, well, wacky and nerdy.

Heaven Tonight remains a great album today – not just because it has a couple of the greatest commercial rock songs ever committed to vinyl but for a couple of its lesser known treasures as well.