Johnny Crash – Unfinished Business
JOHNNY CRASH
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Released in 2008 (Suncity Records)
Track List:
01. Damnation Alley
02. Monkey See Monkey Do
03. Mama Don’t Care (What She Don’t See)
04. Renegade
05. In The Groove
06. Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide
07. Summer Daze
08. Ditch The Bitch
09. When It Gets Hard
10. Livin’ Above The Law
11. No Parole
Band Members:
Vicki James Wright – vocals
Christopher Stewart – guitar
JJ Bolt – guitar
Andy Rogers – bass
Matt Sorum – drums
Additional Musicians:
Dizzy Reed – guitar
Production:
Re-mastered by Chris Fatouros.
Review:
All I can say about this CD is…it’s about fucking time! For over fifteen years these recordings have been collecting dust in some lame record company’s vault as the ‘suite and tie guys’ began signing boredom inducing bands to major contracts in the early 90s. Whoever was behind the shelving of Unfinished Business should be brought before a jury of headbangers and tried for crimes against humanity – as the band states, “there’s no parole for rock ‘n’ roll.”
Everyone who reads Sleaze Roxx should know by now who Johnny Crash is, but for those of you who may have missed out I’ll bring you up to date. The band was formed by a handful of Sunset Strip misfits and a European singer who had tasted success with Tokyo Blade. Together they released 1990’s underrated classic Neighborhood Threat, a flawless collection of AC/DC inspired rock. From there things began to unravel and the recordings represented on this disc are what the band was able to produce before the straw broke the camel’s back.
If you want unrelenting songs like those found on the band’s debut, you got it. “Damnation Alley”, “Monkey See Monkey Do” (in which singer Vicki James Wright sounds more like Brian Johnson than ever), “Mama Don’t Care”, “Ditch The Bitch” and “No Parole” are all great hard rock songs that have the same feel and attitude as the debut album. Unfinished Business also has more diversity than the debut on songs such as “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide”, the countrified swamp-boogie of “Summer Love” and the ballad-like “When It Gets Hard” (get your minds out of the gutter, its not about THAT!).
As you can tell, I love this CD – and to be honest I’ve had the demos of these songs for years now. But what impressed me is how much better these songs sound then those old demos I had. The re-mastering on this disc is top-notch, as are the songs. Rumor has it Axl Rose threatened legal action if this CD got released, due to the involment of Matt Sorum and Dizzy Reed (who were Guns N’Roses members at the time), but unlike his own material he couldn’t keep this one under wraps forever!
Reviewed by Skid for Sleaze Roxx, May 2008.
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