![]() ![]() Feelgood had minimal impact on me compared to this. I rank this album right up there with Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction and Skid Row‘s self-titled debut. In less than a year, Cocked And Loaded was certified gold in the US, with over 500,000 units sold.Ĭocked And Loaded lands directly in the middle of my own personal exploration of sleaze metal, so yeah, I have a soft spot for it. Featuring hits like “Rip And Tear” and “The Ballad of Jayne”, the album peaked at #38 on Billboard’s Hot 200 and charted for 56 weeks. Guns unleashed Cocked And Loaded upon the world. It's also great news that this revitalised incarnation of LA Guns has new material in the pipeline, so if you missed them this time around, be sure to catch them when they come back once that cat is dragged out its bag.On August 22, 1989, L.A. While his skills as a frontman remain undiminished, his voice appears to have strengthened with age and augurs well for the 'Reloaded 2017' tour that continues in the US from April to July. Yet, it was big teaser Phil that really elevated the performance with charismatic and rangy vocals that nowadays Joe and Vince can only dream about. His soloing was exemplary and inventive, spiced-up with judicious Theramin and bowed guitar and playful quoting of some of rock's greatest riffs from Sabbath to Van Halen that the crowd loved. His playing was diverse, slick and groovy and had a gorgeous over-driven sound. It was far from the sloppy glam Metal riffery I was expecting. I was also really impressed by Tracii's guitar mastery. They effortlessly locked-in and rocked-out with the poise and power of early Leppard and the swagger of classic Crue. The storming version of 'Rip And Tear', that closed the show, included reinforcements courtesy of promising support band 'Stone Trigger' and best articulates what LA Guns did to the Academy.Įvery aspect of the show was superb, with the supporting line-up of Michael Grant, Johnny Martin and Shane Fitzgibbon providing taut swagger to every song. However, the encore was more like a second set, stretching out a further thirty minutes and further elevating an already frenzied atmosphere that most will revel in the quality of the show, rather than the quantity, particularly considering the unique opportunity to hear so many songs from the first two albums. Some might bemoan the relative brevity of the performance with the main set done and dusted in barely forty-five minutes, including Cheryl's favourite song 'Malaria'. ![]() These were complemented by a handful of songs from the other four Lewis-fronted albums from 1991s 'Kiss My Love Goodbye' to 2001s 'Don't Look At Me That Way'. Purley Way Tease anyone?Īs expected, the set-list mined the gems of the first two albums, with 'Slap In The Face' the only obvious omission. It was the perfect Sunset Strip anthem to kick-off the show, but ironic given that Croydon lad Lewis and Hackney boy Phil Collen co-wrote the song in 1979, when the fabled strip was a distant fantasy, so it's more likely they took their inspiration from closer to home. The band and crowd response was electric. The sheer glee that met the opening song 'Hollywood Tease' instantly consigned the past to become forgiven and forgotten history. 1995 then heralded almost two decades of line-up instability, with Lewis departing, re-joining and then forming a Tracii-free splinter group, all with diminishing returns. That is, until the insidious ooze of grunge shifted musical predilections and the Guns' guys' world waned. The band from the Sunset Strip are renowned for having spawned the most successful and notorious rock'n'roll band of recent times in Guns N' Roses, but has its own colourful post-Axl history.įollowing a series of line-up changes, it was the arrival of Britt-ish squire and big Girl's bellower Phil Lewis in 1987 that provided the catalyst for our Trace's band to achieve increasing commercial success with 'Cocked n Loaded' and 'Hollywood Vampires' being particular highlights. This was as high octane, membrane-shredding, aurally delicious and visually mesmeric as a rock'n'roll gig can be. It's remarkable that following years of hiatus, ill-will and stasis, the talismanic twins, mercurial six-slinger Guns and charismatic mouth-piece Lewis, agreed to reunite under the awkward, legally bland name of 'LA Guns' Phil Lewis And Tracii Guns' with the London show one week short of the 30th anniversary of their first meeting on April Fools' Day.įrom the very first drum beat to the very last power-chord, it was clear that there was to be no f-f-fooling about. Words: Andy Rawll, Pictures: Chris Drew 2nd April 2017 London Islington Academy, Saturday 25th March 2017 LA GUNS STUN LONDON WITH COCKED, ROCKED AND LOADED DISPLAY OF FIREPOWER LA Guns Stun London With Cocked, Rocked And Loaded Display Of Firepower ![]()
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