According to the liner notes, Tracii Guns was approached by Jason Kramer and Jason Rothberg to do an acoustic album at the Hotel Café in Hollywood. Guns explains that he was terrified at the idea because he hadn’t done an acoustic performance since grade school. To feel more comfortable, Tracii put together a group of musicians to deliver the performance that appears on this record. His group included Jizzy Pearl on vocals, Chad Stewart on drums and Danny Nordahl on bass. Special guests were Teddy “Zig Zag” Andreadis on keyboards, former bassist Muddy Stardust, who performed as a second guitarist, and backup vocals/percussionist Doni Gray.
The album starts off kind of slow with, “Crystal Eyes” and “One Way Ticket,” which is filled with vibrant guitar leads and drum rolls that move across the variation of tom-toms. However, “Electric Gypsy” seemed to move the audience more and pick up the pace of the performance.
During the middle to end of their set, the band performs hits “Never Enough,” “Over The Edge,” “Sex Action,” “The Ballad Of Jayne” and of course “Rip And Tear.” The hits were filled with a ton of energy and charismatic groove, which I didn’t think would come across in a stripped-down setting.
One of their newer songs, “Little Soldier,” threw me off since it was a country track. It’s not what I’d expect from a glam-metal band like L.A. Guns. However, the track was surprisingly good with a harmonica solo in the middle.
Overall, this acoustic album was a pleasant surprise from the typically electric rockers. The covers and country single set them apart from their hair metal roots, proving they still have talent by performing outside of their genre and still have that ass-kickin’ energy they’ve always had.
In A Word: Wicked
