Steevi Jaimz – My Private Hell

STEEVI JAIMZ
MY PRIVATE HELL
Released May 25, 2009 (Cargo Records/SCS Records)

Track List:
01. Amazing
02. Don’t Say It’s Over
03. Something Good Something Bad
04. Still Crazy
05. Little Sistah
06. My Private Hell
07. Kiss Of Death
08. I Don’t Wanna Walk Away
09. Dancin’ With Danger
10. Kikk It Down

Band:
Steevi Jaimz – lead/backing vocals
Chris Laney – all instruments and backing vocals
Anders ‘Platform’ Ringman – all instruments and backing vocals

Production:
Produced by Chris Laney and Anders ‘Platform’ Ringman.

Review:
As soon as I spun Steevi Jaimz‘ new solo outing I immediately got the feeling that I had heard this before. It didn’t remind me of his previous works with glam legends Tigertailz or his other solo outings… and then it hit me, Zan Clan! One look at the liner notes confirmed my suspicions, as Zan Clan member Chris Laney helped write and produce the majority of material on My Private Hell. It made me wonder if this was in fact a Jaimz album on a Laney one, and then I thought ‘who cares?’ – this album is incredible and it doesn’t matter who deserves most of the credit.

  You can’t deny that Jaimz has his claws dug deep into this CD though, as shown by the lyrics on the first single and opening cut “Amazing”. The song could easily be an intro into the life of Steevi Jaimz, who has battled his demons over the years. But while “Amazing” paints of a picture of someone changing their life around, “Still Crazy” and “My Private Hell” take the opposite approach of depicting someone pushed against the wall and refusing to back down. Has Steevi Jaimz tamed the beast within himself? Perhaps that conflict is what led to the title of this disc, his ongoing battle between good and evil, with a bit of each still lurking within.

  Regardless of what everything means, the songs speak for themselves. This is a flawless release from start to finish, and I’ll give Laney some of the credit here because he was part of the similar sounding and outstanding release We Are Zan Clan…Who The F**k Are You??!. He managed to resurrect original Shotgun Messiah frontman Zinny Zan‘s career, and has now he has done the same with Jaimz. The songs are all great rockers (aside from the one Def Leppard reminiscent ballad) and everything sounds larger than life, without coming across as overproduced or pretentious. Laney and Anders Ringman play all the instruments on My Private Hell and sound like seasoned professionals. Jaimz himself also sounds great, just check out “Something Good Something Bad” and “Dancin’ With Danger” for proof.

  Say what you will about the battles between Jaimz and Tigertailz over the years, but both are sounding better than ever. I don’t know if they are both trying to out-do each other, but whatever their motivation is it is working! This album may represent Jaimz‘ own ‘private hell’, but for the listener it is nothing but bliss.

  www.steevijaimz.com – www.myspace.com/steevijaimz – www.cargorecords.co.uk

Reviewed by Skid for Sleaze Roxx, November 2009.

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