Ultimate L.A. Guns

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L.A. Guns

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his year has been a good one for fans of true heavy metal and fans of LA Guns in general. To coincide with a brand new studio album called Waking the Dead and a successful world tour that just concluded with the band touring with Firehouse, Ratt, Warrant, and Dokken, LA Guns has released yet another compact disc that must be heard. This one is a greatest hits of sorts but not really. This is ULTIMATE LA GUNS!

What do I mean not really? Well, they are not all the original recordings but they may even be better. Filled with more energy and a live feel even on the studio recorded tracks, this is as good as Waking the Dead, which I have described as the best metal album of the year.

You get a completely packed CD of all the greatest tunes of LA Guns past. You get Never Enough, Kiss My Love Goodbye, Ballad of Jane, and a version of the Guns 'n' Roses made hit My Michelle which you may or may not consider a cover depending on what side of the fence you sit on between those two bands. Every single song on this album rocks and it really does have that live feel throughout the album that fills me with energy!

What is my favorite song? You have to hear Rip 'n' Tear. The energy in that song rivals any Bon Scott (AC/DC) performance and is simply incredible rock 'n' roll. If for nothing else, buy it for that!

As if the incredible music wasn't enough, you get a little bonus. The CD does not come in a normal crystal case. It comes in a cardboard open up case and in the packaging is an exclusive LA Guns poster. It's like a one disc box set! It's just so cool! But, don't take my word for it! Make up your own mind! Get the album and tell me if it don't get your head 'a' bangin'!

'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' is a hodgepodge of tracks taken from three albums that the band cut for the small label, Cleopatra/Deadline Records. In 1999, the classic L.A. Guns lineup reformed to rerecord some of their hit songs for the cd, 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties.' The album contained mostly subpar rerecordings (focusing only on their first two albums), some remixes and a few new songs. In the year 2000, L.A. Guns issued their first live album, 'Live: A Nite on the Strip' and the album, 'Cocked and Reloaded.' The live album needs no explanation. 'Cocked and Reloaded' had L.A. Guns back in the studio rerecording the entire 'Cocked and Loaded' studio album, probably so they could have the rights to all those new versions for licensing and royalty purposes. These are the three albums that make up everything on this collection, save for one song (which will be explained later).

The good news is that this collection includes twenty songs total, though quantity doesn't always ensure quality. Seven of these tracks are taken from the live album and they do include some tracks from the studio albums, 'Hollywood Vampires' and 'Vicious Circle', which is nice since the band never rerecorded any of that material (only choosing to focus on the first two albums, 's/t' and 'Cocked & Loaded'). The live versions (at least on here) range mostly from average to above average, but at least a couple border on bootleg quality.

This leaves thirteen songs remaining. The Guns N' Roses cover song, "My Michelle", was actually cut by L.A. Guns vocalist, Phil Lewis as a solo artist (along with guitarist, Tracii Guns). This is originally from a Guns N' Roses tribute album. The remaining tracks are primarily rerecorded versions of songs from the first two L.A. Guns albums. Most of the ones early in the album are from 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties' and the later ones were pulled from 'Cocked and Reloaded'. Two of the remaining songs, "Time" and "Ritual", were also from 'Greatest Hits and Black Beauties', but they are brand new cuts recorded specifically for the album.

The majority of the songs here on 'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' are weak renditions, suffer from poor sound quality, or both. It isn't a reflection of this album, since the source albums for the material here suffered from the same fate. It isn't a reflection of the band, either, since the original studio versions of almost all of these tunes are potent. It is hard to tell whether to call out the producer for burying the sound, the record label (Deadline, on all three occasions) for using a shoestring budget or the band for going through the motions on a lot of these tracks. However, this album is what it is. The fact is that an album containing a lot of these same songs (the original renditions, mind you) would score significantly higher on the list of any reviewer, there is no doubt about that.

There is not any new material here and nothing of note, unless you never heard the Phil Lewis cover, "My Michelle," but it isn't exactly a world beater. Due to the shoddy versions and sound quality, recommending this album to a brand new fan as an introduction to the band, will not do L.A. Guns any favors. This is not L.A. Guns at their best. Calling this a compilation or collection is accurate, but don't consider it a "best of" or "greatest hits" or you may find yourself fairly disappointed.

Most die-hard fans might already have all of the source albums, so they won't need this, unless they appreciate the new cover art. The best market for this album would come from somebody who has followed L.A. Guns before, owning maybe a couple albums, but doesn't have anything from their time on Deadline Records. If this casual fan wants to pick up 'The Ultimate L.A. Guns' and likes it, then perhaps it would be worth tracking down the three original albums that this music can be found on.

If you are actively looking for a real greatest hits collection for L.A. Guns, the best bet would be to start with the major label release, 'Millenium Collection' (which I've reviewed) as it houses the original studio versions that fans have loved for many years. 'Fully Loaded' is a budget-priced compilation of material from two strong albums that L.A. Guns did for Spitfire Records between 2001-2002, another decent choice. Aside from that, you won't be burned buying the self-titled debut or the follow-up, 'Cocked and Loaded', which got the L.A. Guns off to a fast start.