Life's a Gamble

CD Cover Pokerface
Independent

Review by Michael O'Donahue



Wow, this sounds like it would be a perfect fit for one of them CTV dramas. "Ordinary Day" would certainly work at the end of Nikita.

Are we far enough away from the 80's for this to qualify as retro? Dated FM radio rock, power ballads, Loverboy-isms -- what the hell are these guys thinking? And what's the punchline? There's even an unplugged version of "Scars," a stirring power ballad with lyrics like "You stumble and you fall / Pick up the pieces and carry on." I am not making this up.

If you miss Winger, Warrant, Loverboy, et al, then this -- THIS! -- is the album for you. Relive those old memories of crimping irons, hairspray, acid-wash jeans and pastel-coloured tank-tops. Life's a Gamble evokes all those rose-coloured rememberings. Boy, it sure takes me back to the days when I didn't listen to the radio for fear of hearing crap like this.

Not that they're not authentic or anything, as the band features ex-members of Prism, Bonham, and Colin James' band, plus the album was mixed by Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean. So Pokerface do come by their embarrassing leanings honestly, but that doesn't mean you have to listen to their endless boring songs, whiddly whiddly guitar solos and Mike Reno-tribute singer bellowing trite, sentimental clichés.

Did this stuff ever qualify as Rock and Roll? Shudder.


Artist Contact Info: #110 - 20577 Langley Bypass, Langley, B.C., Canada, V3A 5E8




First published in Drop-D Magazine on April 25, 1998

Index | Search | E-mail | Info | Copyright

 
Considering copying some of the images from this story?
Please read this first. Thanks.