What I’m about to say will shock many people: Warrant has put
out a really good album. (I will pause now while the diehard
metalheads can stop laughing at me.)
It may seem impossible to believe, but the band that was
responsible for such light-weight drivel as “Cherry Pie” regrouped
and found their focus. Their first album as Warrant ’96 (I don’t
know if it was their only – CMC International’s web site has been
down for a week),
Belly To Belly, challenges the listener’s preconceived
notions of the band as well as the definition of hard rock. While
there are some rough edges here, the bulk of it is surprisingly
good.
It doesn’t seem like anything has changed at first. As Jani
Lane’s vocals begin on the opening track “In The End (There’s
Nothing)”, it sounds underpowered, despite a great rhythm track
created byguitarists Rick Steier and Erik Turner, bassist Jerry
Dixon and drummer Bobby Borg. But a well-crafted song like this is
bound to overpower any weaknesses – and though it takes a couple of
listens, it succeeds.
Warrant seem to have dispensed with the cock-rock that marked
their decline, and instead concentrated on the music and its
various forms. From light ballads with a serious message (“Room
With A View”) to kick-ass rockers (“Vertigo”), Warrant is out to
earn your respect. They even have their own little inside joke
about how they might be seen by the record-buying public on “Coffee
House”: “So you think my exterior seems a little out of focus /
Because I don’t talk in cluches that people try to use to stroke
us.” Make no mistake, this is a new band with new blood.
Even I was skeptical – I’ve had this disc lying around for
months, and finally decided to take a chance on it. If someone had
slapped this disc on before, you would have had a rather nasty
challenge on your hands trying to convince me this was Warrant.
But while the band is comfortable in the search for their
perfect musical voice, occasionally the search does tend to weaken
Belly To Belly Volume 1. Mind you, I don’t mind hearing
ballads mixed in with hard rockers, but it would have been nice to
have received a majority of one form or another. And while I
appreciate the complexities of songs like “Falling Down,” these
will have both long-time fans and gawkers wondering what it is
about.
Warrant took a big chance by not only making an album so
complex, but putting out any album while hard rock / heavy metal
was out of the public favor and the band was all but relegated to
Trivial Pursuit status. If only
Belly To Belly Volume 1 had been given more of a chance by
both consumers and radio, this band could have really enjoyed the
success I think they earned with this disc.
Warrant is still together, and is still putting out new
releases, but
Belly To Belly Volume 1 should be picked up as a primer for
what to expect in the late ’90s from one of the last successful
hard rock-lite bands. Whatever you thought of Warrant’s past,
Belly To Belly Volume 1‘s strengths are no laughing
matter… and I’m not joking.
