Prior to singer/guitarist
John Corabi
tempting his fate (and sanity) by joining L.A. bad boys
Moetley Cruee
, he was the leader of a solid little combo by the name of
the Scream
. Rising from the ashes of the ultra-technical
Racer X
, another Sunset Strip combo with a burgeoning cult following, upon their dissolution,
Corabi
set out to do something completely different. With guitarist
Bruce Bouillet
, bassist
John Alderete
, and drummer
Walt Woodward III
in tow,
signed to
Hollywood Records
; shortly thereafter, they delivered their impressive major-label debut. Produced by the legendary
Eddie Kramer
, they had a lot to be proud of on
Let It Scream
. One part
Aerosmith
, one part
Stones
, and part
Humble Pie
,
is jam-packed with carefully crafted, commercial
hard rock
songs. Album opener
"Outlaw"
gets things off to a rollicking start. With his
Steven Tyler
meets
Tom Keifer
swagger, it's clear from the word go that
possesses a great set of pipes. A solid rocker,
"I Believe in Me"
quickly follows with its tongue-in-cheek chorus.
"Man in the Moon"
is next, and turns out to be one of the strongest tracks on the record. With its bluesy acoustic guitar intro, the song develops into a scorching rocker. Ironically, this track would serve as an ominous foreshadowing to
Moetley
's self-titled commercial bomb, which featured
.
"Father, Mother, Son"
is a tender, well-executed
ballad
that could have easily fit onto a
Bon Jovi
album.
"Tell Me Why"
provides an interesting twist, as a
neo-funk
intro gives way to a track that seems a little at odds with the rest of the material but doesn't seem lost in the context of the album.
"I Don't Care"
does a
Zeppelin
before giving way too the delightfully sleazy
"Every Inch a Woman."
The rest of the record is solid all around, if somewhat predictable with repeated listens. Sadly,
would never reach its full potential, as
would jump ship and join
less than a year and a half after the release of
. Nevertheless, given the state of the U.S. marketplace at the time, this is a solid debut from a band that sadly never got to see its day in the sun. ~ John Franck