Live At The Pretty Ugly Club

For those of you not familiar with Pretty Boy Floyd, they are a hair metal quartet on the glammier end of the spectrum. The band originally consisted of singer Steve Summers, guitarist Kristy Majors, bassist Vinnie Chas, and drummer Karl Kane. They can be best described as a mix between Poison and Motley Crue. They are from Hollywood, California and were part of the LA Metal Scene back in the late 80's. In 1989 they released a full-length album through MCA called "Leather Boys With Electric Toys"; a high energy barrage of "shock" pop rock metal. This very underrated debut did not manage to crack Billboard's Top 100 albums, and Pretty Boy Floyd soon found itself without a label, disbanding shortly thereafter. However, the group reunited in the late '90s. Since then they have released three albums in the last four years, including one ep. "Live At The Pretty Ugly Club" is a good start for anyone interested in the commercial L.A. metal bands of the 80's. Although the line up has changed throughout the years, the two constants that define the Pretty Boy Floyd's sound have remained. Guitarist Kristy Majors and vocalist Steve Summers. "Live At The Pretty ugly Club" is 12 tracks of raw sleaze metal, with 2 new studio tracks, including a kick as cover version of Billy Joel's "It's Still R & R To Me". This live album portrays PBF with a very stripped down sound both raw and natural as opposed to their earlier, very layered and polished production. It's because of this vast difference between the sound from studio to the stage that it's a testament to what PBF can do live. Listening to the live stuff does make you appreciate the studio stuff even more. From what I can tell, the band didn't seem to go back to the studio and add any overdubs or try to fix anything that was naturally done live. If that is the case, I do give the band credit. I'm happy with the track selection, considering the pool of songs PBF has to choose from. The live set starts off strong and ends strong. The album has grown on me somewhat but I was expecting a little more. The absence of a second guitar player detracts from the overall structure of the songs in their original format. I would suggest to download a few samples before buying. Even if you don't buy this release, I would highly recommend "Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz" and the ep "Tale of Sex Designer Drugs & Death of Rock".