My Reviews:

Look What The Cat Dragged In (1986)

One of the best party albums, by THE best party band. While Motley Crue took a heavier route, Poison took a poppier approach with the same punk attitude and similar 3 chord simplicity. ‘Cry Tough’, ‘Talk  Dirty To Me’, and ‘Look…’ are classics! Four more songs are real contenders, the rest are poor fillers. But it’s the quality and number of classics that make this essential. Poison influenced so many bands, without them  there’d be no Pretty Boy Floyd, Warrant etc.. (8/10)

Open Up And Say Ahh! (1988)

More mature songs, a less raw  (but still poor) production – some of the old fun is gone. “Nothin’ But A Good Time’ is a great party anthem, ‘Fallen Angel’ shows a greater depth in songwriting, while ‘Every Rose..’ is one of THE all time Metal ballads. Many of the songs seem rushed and not fully formed, but it’s still a strong follow up. Their ability to write a good chorus keeps them ahead of the pack they helped create. (7/10)

Flesh & Blood (1990)

Their best album and one of my all-time-favourites. Sure much of the early throwaway style is gone, but here is a more consistent album. And in ‘Valley Of Lost Souls’ and ‘Ride The Wind’ they have huge anthems with (at last) a decent production and a big sound (thanks to Bruce Fairbairn – Bon Jovi etc). . That’s not to say that the fun is gone – ‘Sacrifice' and ‘Unskinny Bop’ are still rude and crude sex songs. But some songs are so much more mature and all the better for it: ‘Something To Believe In’ is their BEST ballad, while ‘Life Loves A Tragedy’ is sheer brilliance. In between are all the usual party numbers and fun (I especially like the lyrics to 'Don't Give Up An Inch'), just better written, arranged, recorded. More mature, but no less fun. (9/10)

Swallow This Live (1991)

Why release a double live album now? Sure the atmosphere of the gig is there (if you like huge stadium gigs) – the crowd are loud as are the fireworks, but there is no need for this release.To add insult to injury we have a Drum Solo for over SIX AND A HALF MINUTES!and a Guitar Solo for NINE AND A HALF MINUTES!! Why?! But on CD2 there are FOUR new songs, ‘So Tell Me Why’ is a real gem, catchy and rockin’, ‘Souls On Fire’ is a poor groover indicating future releases. ‘Only Time Will Tell’ is another excellent ballad, while ‘No More Lookin’ Back’ is a fun upbeat track. (5/10) Live, (8/10) bonus tracks.

Native Tongue (1993)

C.C left and Grunge dominated the scene and so Poison toughened up their sound and image – Oh Dear! The result is usually mediocre with a newfound bluesy groove and heavy sound. ‘Stand’ is an OK gospel (Black Crowes?) influenced single, while ‘Until You Suffer Some (Fire And  Ice) and ‘Theatre Of The Soul’ are rare islands of brilliance – great ballads. ‘7 Days Over You’ and ‘Strike Up The Band’ are good  poppy songs with the old Poison fun, but they are too few and far between. (5/10)

Crack a smile (2000)/(1996)

The much bootlegged 1996 shelved album finally got released with a few bonus tracks tagged on for good measure. It's MUCH more fun than the last album. But CC is still missing, and it's still got that bluesy sound that "serious" bands think makes them sound "real" and "meaningful".....hmmm. 'Doin' As I Seen On My TV' wakes things up and is pretty fun (and true in so many ways!). Overall it lacks a  real killer track though. Strangely it also features a B side from their 2nd album and 4 tracks from their MTV unplugged session - all featuring CC. (6/10)

Power to the people (2000)

Just what we need - another Poison live album!!

But wait, CC is Back! And there are 5 new studio tracks (so let's forget the unnecessary, poorly recorded, live songs). Title track 'Power To the People' doesn't sound at all like Poison, it is heavy & alternative - but still fun and a GREAT track. The gang are back and the other 4 songs sound more like "old" Poison, but Poison for the 21st Century. 'The Last Song' is a good ballad, 'Strange' sounds like a Bret solo album song. 'I Hate Every Bone..' is a CC lead vocal song, it rocks in a punky vein, is fun and sounds similar to CC's solo album.

Hollywierd (2002)

Maybe it's the change in the musical landscape from the Blues influenced Grunge of the 90's to the Punk influenced 00's - or maybe it's CC's return (from fronting the punkier Samantha 7) that moves Poison back into a tighter, (less Blues influenced) band. And CC sings on THREE tracks too - obviously part of the agreement. Sort of - Crack A Smile - with CC punking it up occasionally. The highlight is Bret and CC's versions of 'Home'.