Phil Lewis calls ‘Renegades’ album from Riley’s version of L.A. Guns “a big steaming pile of shit”
Phil Lewis calls ‘Renegades’ album from Riley’s version of L.A. Guns “a big steaming pile of shit”
The badmouthing from one L.A. Guns entity in particular towards the other continues as lead vocalist Phil Lewis, who is now a member of guitarist Tracii Guns‘ version of L.A. Guns, had some harsh words to say about the album Renegades from drummer Steve Riley‘s version of the band.
Lewis did not mince words with his reply comments to a Facebook thread started earlier today on the L.A. Guns Fan Page, which asked: “How does everyone feel about Riley‘s L.A Guns? I honestly don’t like his version or the Renegades disc. It just tarnishes the legacy and music of this great band..”
Lewis‘ reply was as follows:
“It’s a big steaming pile of shit that was written and recorded in two weeks
If you can’t tell the difference then music isn’t your strong point.
Only reason they created a second version is because they saw how well we are doing.
Doing things for all the wrong reasons is usually a recipe for disaster kinda like when Tracii formed a version after BOD hit the wall.”
Sleaze Roxx respectfully disagrees with Lewis‘ comments as Renegades finished at #8 on the Sleaze Roxx’s Top Ten Albums of 2020. Sleaze Roxx commented as follows: “I didn’t really know what to expect with the L.A. Guns version spearheaded by drummer Steve Riley and bassist Kelly Nickels but to say that I was pleasantly surprised with Renegades would be an understatement. The big unknown was of course lead vocalist Kurt Frohlich. It’s one thing to handle the back catalog of L.A. Guns classics in a live setting, it’s a whole other thing to deliver in a studio fronting essentially a brand new “L.A. Guns” line-up.
The first three singles — “Crawl”, “Well Oiled Machine” (although the chorus was quite underwhelming) and “Renegades” — were very promising and the good news turned out to be that there were a few other standouts on the album Renegades. Tracks such as “Why Ask Why” and especially “Lost Boys” helped to push Renegades into the Sleaze Roxx’s Top Ten Albums of 2020. If it wasn’t for one dud track (the ballad “Would”), I would have rated this record even higher. In any case, Riley and Nickels have proven that they are more than capable of upholding the L.A. Guns name in a positive way. One wonders why Riley didn’t want to record a new studio album (which is one of the reasons why Phil Lewis apparently defected to the other L.A. Guns camp led by Tracii Guns in late 2016) when such great songs can be found on Renegades.”
L.A. Guns‘ (feat. Riley and Nickels) “Renegades” single:
L.A. Guns‘ (feat. Lewis and Guns) “Let You Down” lyric video: