L.A. GUNS – Tales From The Strip

The art of survival. No, really. Similar to many other bands, line-up changes have been L.A. Guns’ toughest hour, but with Phil Lewis and Steve Riley still in the ranks, although they both have been out of the game at one time, L.A. Guns is, believe it or not, still kicking it.

Last year’s Rips The Covers Up introduced this line-up, with bass player Adam Hamilton and new guitarist Stacey Blades, along with the aforementioned Lewis and Riley. As for the namesake of the band, Tracii Guns, he is still with the Brides Of Destruction, now without Nikki Sixx as everyone knows.

So can they pull it off without the guy that started the whole thing? Actually they do, and by far. Waking The Dead was proof that L.A. Guns deserves their existence, and Tales From The Strip carries the torch on, even without the main axeman Tracii Guns behind the wheel.

The production is the best they have had in years, signature Andy Johns, but one cannot pick up this album and not pay attention to the poor, embarrassing, and beyond cheap sleeve. It looks like it is done in a hurry by a 10-year old — on a computer of the same age for that matter.

Concentrating on the all-important music, the album starts brilliantly, with the timeless rockers “It Don’t Mean Nothing,” “Electric Neon Sunset,” and “Gypsy Soul.” Further on, “Vampire” is a great mellow song with a striking chorus. 14-tracks, all in all, but they could have reduced it by a couple to make the release even better.

Two highly unnecessary tracks are the two instrumentals, “6.9 Earthshaker” and “Amaneger,” and the first one is a half-funky instrumental drum solo thing that really isn’t interesting. Steve Riley may be a excellent party rock drummer, but he is not the tightest drummer around, and he sure does not deserve his own spot on a studio album(!). In the end, who does? Nevertheless, ol’ Riley, no offense.

Phil Lewis, on the other hand, delivers amazingly. The man carries energy, punch, and a timeless signature to his voice. “Skin” would have been something close to nothing without him, and the two L.A. Guns albums he didn’t do, namely American Hardcore and Shrinking Violet from the mid 90’s, just isn’t L.A. Guns. Tales From The Strip, without Mr. Guns, is, without any argument.

If you picked up Man On The Moon and Waking The Dead and liked them, there is no way around Tales From The Strip. Even if you are still occasionally listening to Cocked & Loaded and Hollywood Vampires and nothing else from their catalogue, this album should provide you a great time.