Sunday 15 April 2018

Record Collection Random Choice (RCRC) - L: Little Angels - Don't Prey For Me

What?
I find myself in the midst of second division Hair Metal (from Scarborough, of all places).
Not much of note happens in Scarborough - it was the backdrop for the Michael Caine/Jane Horrocks film Little Voice, and was the birthplace of playwright Alan Ayckbourn.
And The Little Angels, a band of relatively short life and limited commercial success warrant an entry on the "Notable People From ..." page on wikipedia

Oh well, here goes ...

Actually, my memory is wrong - whilst there is a touch of Hair Metal about proceedings, this album rocks along nicely (if lightly).

This is the 12 track re-issue, meaning (lucky boy that I am) I get two additional tracks in the shape of "She's A Little Angel" (from an earlier EP) and "Radical Your Lover" (stand alone single released after the initial release of this album).

There is no getting away from the fact that this is clean-edged pop metal with just a whiff of Aerosmith about it, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  It's not all "looking to LA", there is a certain Britishness to the songs (or some of them, at least)
The songs are well constructed, well played and well sung - not just mere facsimiles of "what is popular in the world of hair metal at the moment".  They have the added USP of a horn section, which adds to many of the tracks, lifting them from mere throwaway into something deserving a bit more attention (and a bit more memorable - the previously mentioned "Radical Your Lover" has been stuck in my head all day after hearing it again).

Originally released in 1989 (and re-released in 1990 with those two extra tracks), Little Angels were hailed as one of the great British hopes (alongside Quireboys and Thunder et al) for all things Heavy(ish) and Rock-y - and then Grunge changed the goalposts.
Anyone playing bluesy rock, or happy hair metal was consigned to the history books virtually overnight.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom for the band - their next album rose to Number 1 in the album charts - albeit gaining the (unwanted) distinction of having the shortest chart history of a Number 1 album (in and out within 5 weeks).

Undiscovered classic?
Influential?
Ripe for re-invention?

Probably not - but it is a great little album (OK, in small doses separated by a few years (about 25 years in this case))

Kicking Up Dust


Radical Your Lover



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