Album Review – Erotic Suicide – Abusement Park – Remastered
Time to jump in the wayback machine to 1993. A time when some Rock N’ Roll was still an escape, an excuse to have a good time, live shows were a party, hot babes were happily on display and hair was still big! It was the time just as music overdosed on everyday reality and live shows became a drag & an exhibition of untuned guitars, garbled vocals, shoe gazing and depression!
Erotic Suicide were a band based in Oklahoma City who stood tall and bucked the trend that was sweeping through the Rock scene. Their music was fun at a time when even the bands who inspired them were jumping ship, trying to ditch their image and past & writing more “mature” songs. Erotic Suicide stuck to their guns, kept their amps cranked to 11 and reminded people that it was ok to escape from our everyday reality through their music and live shows.
Originally released in 1993, Erotic Suicide’s debut album “Abusement Park” has been remastered and re-issued with a previously unreleased bonus track, “Let You Go” courtesy of Nashville based FnA Records. The band consisted of vocalist Rach Rose & his brother D.D. Rose on drums, Kyle St. Clair on guitar and Leslie Blak on bass. The band toured extensively around the U.S. opening for the likes of Vince Neil, Jackyl, Bang Tango and Ugly Kid Joe.
The band has reached somewhat of a cult status in the past decade with copies of both their albums, “Abusement Park” & “Perseverance” fetching anywhere from $50-$125 on secondary market websites such as Ebay & Amazon. Threads about the band and their recordings pop up quite frequently on music message boards. I’ve got my fingers crossed that FnA Records will give “Perseverance” the remastering, re-release treatment in the future!
The album wastes no time bringing the Rock to your earholes with “Babylon”, a sexually charged rocker paying homage to the sins of the flesh! “Can’t Remember” keeps the momentum going with a lyrical ode to living the Rock N’ Roll lifestyle and waking up to the fact you can’t remember shit about the night before! Oh well, grab some hair of the dog and start all over again! “Can’t Remember” was also released as a video as seen below. “Goin’ Down” brings it down just a notch but lays on a wicked groove. Nice use of gang vocals in the choruses. Kyle lays down one of my favorite solos on the album during this song while D.D. channels his inner-Christoper Walken towards the end.
“Comes Around Goes Around” picks the pace back up with a lyrical “fuck you” to a former lover. This is a song that most should be able to relate to “so please don’t be offended as I kick your ass right out of my front door!”…..CLASSIC! “Mean Sex Machine” is without a doubt my favorite tune on the album. It just oozes sleaze musically and lyrically. Had this song come out during the heyday of the PMRC, I have no doubt that Tipper Gore would have made Erotic Suicide the poster boys for her Feminist Commie crusade against music! Musically, “You’re So Cool” takes a heavier turn with its Pantera-esque riff and groove. Lyrically it’s another “fuck you” to those females who think their shit don’t stink but if they had as many dicks sticking out of them as they do in them then they’d be porcupines.
“Ties Me Up” is another rocker about an unhealthy yet too addictive relationship. Plug the kiddies ears towards the middle of the song so they don’t get exposed to some sinful sounds alas Guns N’ Roses “Rocket Queen.” Kicking off with a chuggin’ riff atop some heavy-footed bass drum, “Get What You Paid For” is all about living in the moment because we are not promised a tomorrow.
A dive bombing guitar leads into some sweet riffage on the second-to-last song, “Wait A Minute”. This track is my 2nd favorite cut on the album. Always had been and even moreso since my failed marriage 10 years after its release. The lyrics really hit home when I FINALLY realized that I’d spent five years with someone who was always trying to change me. You live…..you learn, hopefully! It is always nice when music strikes a deeper chord than just diggin’ a certain song.
“Sweet Summer Nights” is an interesting way to end an album during this time. Most bands put their mid-tempo song or ballad within the first half of the album. Erotic Suicide ends the original “Abusement Park” with theirs. I’m usually not a fan of the “panty dropper” ballads but this one is so well written and performed that it could touch a nerve with even the hardest of rockers. I can envision a venue lit up with lighters as the band played this live or singing along to this while cruising down the highway back in the day. A good tune is a good tune.
To put a cap on this remastered re-issue, the band raided their vault to include “Let You Go”, an acoustically driven ballad about the loss of a loved one. The tune features a very tasteful electric guitar solo that builds in intensity before bringing the full band in to close out the track.
Erotic Suicide were five years too late in terms of having a chance in the mainstream. That’s ok because they stood strong in the face of haters to provide two great albums for those who enjoyed their type of music. Fans of melodic anthemic party rock with a healthy dose of sleaze will digg this album as will fans of early Mötley Crüe, Poison, L.A. Guns, Guns N’ Roses, Faster Pussycat and Skid Row! On a final note, suicide never sounded so good!
Erotic Suicide’s “Abusement Park” OUT NOW on FnA Records!!!
Erotic Suicide – Abusement Park
Originally released in 1993
Remaster release date – August 4, 2015 via FnA Records
1. Babylon
2. Can’t Remember
3. Goin’ Down
4. Comes Around Goes Around
5. Mean Sex Machine
6. You’re So Cool
7. Ties Me Up
8. You Get What You Pay For
9. Wait A Minute
10. Sweet Summer Nights
11. Let You Go (previously unreleased)
Erotic Suicide:
Rach Rose – Vocals
Kyle St. Clair – Guitar
Leslie Blak – Bass
D.D. Rose – Drums
*Additional Guitars – Stephan Lauren
Produced by – Dave Moore & Erotic Suicide
Head over to FnA Records to purchase either a CD, an autographed copy or a Digital Download of Erotic Suicide’s “Abusement Park” & while you’re there, tell Doc and the gang that you’d LOVE a remastered re-issue of “Perseverance”! Only fans supporting this release can make that happen!!!
Order Erotic Suicide’s “Abusement Park” Remastered:
http://fnarecords.net/index.php/abusement-park.html-Official FnA Records Website
https://www.facebook.com/eroticsuicideOKC -Official Unofficial Erotic Suicide Facebook Page
“Can’t Remember” video
“Sweet Summer Nights”
Category: Reviews
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