Spread Eagle’s sound has an angry edge to it, fuelled by the success of Guns n Roses and L.A Guns, and Jersey neighbors Skid Row.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Spread Eagle
ALBUM: Spread Eagle
LABEL: MCA
SERIAL: MCAD-6383
YEAR: 1990
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Ray West – vocals * Paul DiBartolo – guitars * Rob DeLuca – bass * Tommi Gallo – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Broken City * 02 Back On The Bitch * 03 Switch Blade Serenade * 04 Hot Sex * 05 Suzy Suicide * 06 Dead Of Winter * 07 Scratch Like A Cat * 08 Thru These Eyes * 09 Spread Eagle * 10 42nd Street * 11 Shotgun Kiss
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
From the tough neighborhoods of New York come this quartet of hardened individuals, ready to inflict some aural damage on unsuspecting listeners with their brand of streetwise metal. Spread Eagle’s sound has an angry edge to it, fuelled by the success of Guns n Roses and L.A Guns, and Jersey neighbors Skid Row, the approach taken by them is similar: gritty, tough, and carrying an attitude like Wyatt Earp carries a six-shooter.
Originally from Boston, three of the four members (excluding singer Ray West, who came from upstate NY), moved down to the Big Apple in search of fame and fortune. Instead they got noteriety and a record deal, even before they’d played a gig. The band name came from one of their favourite activities, watching strippers. Um Yeah, OK. Moving right along to their debut album, which caused a bit of a stir during 1990, containing eleven tracks of urban angst, representative of the area they were living in, New York’s Lower East Side.
The Songs
The area gets top billing as a mention on the splatter-gun opener ‘Broken City’, a great ‘heavy as you please’ grinder with a cool melodic midsection. ‘Back On The Bitch’ describes the difficulty in trying to kick a bad habit, and again, revs along with infectious heavy grooves.
DiBartolo lets his guitar do the ‘talking’ on the awesome ‘Switchblade Serenade’, this track became the band’s first video. The banal ‘Hot Sex’ talking about, yes you guessed it, is a bit crass, the Kiss like mentality all too obvious, followed by the sad tale of ‘Suzy Suicide’.
‘Dead Of Winter’ has a GnR feel to it, follwed by the rabid rock of ‘Scratch Like A Cat’. ‘Thru These Eyes’ is a subdued affair, and then there’s the titletrack ‘Spread Eagle’, dedicated to all strippers everywhere – ‘gimme a taste of your animal grace, the things you’ll do for a dollar bill or two’, Hilarious, but still hard hitting musically.
In Summary
The combined talents of the two mainmen; singer Ray West and axe-slinger Paul DiBartolo carry Spread Eagle along for a tumultuous musical ride. Though there are some acoustic interludes to lighten up, the upshot of it all: this is hard rock with an attitude. Fans of the aforementioned bands will do well to investigate Spread Eagle, plus their follow-up from 1993 ‘Open To The Public’.
Video
Switchblade Serenade
Scratch Like A Cat
[Dangerzone] I listened to this for the first time on the way home and I guess they were a year or two too late for the hard rock boom. Some decent tracks but the sense you’ve heard it all before permeates the album. It sounds exactly like you’d expect any hard rock album from 1990.
[Dangerzone] I listened to this for the first time on the way home and I guess they were a year or two too late for the hard rock boom. Some decent tracks but the sense you’ve heard it all before permeates the album. It sounds exactly like you’d expect any hard rock album from 1990.