Warrant - Rockaholic
Frontier Records
www.frontiers.it

Rating: B

Sex and drugs certainly ruined Warrant's rock n' roll, back in the day.  Boozehound Janie Lane put a pockmark on the band that lasted even after he had been ousted from the group.  Jamie St. James did a formidable job, and the band slogged it out on the road and resurrected their career, somewhat.  Still, Warrant without Lane was met with lukewarm acceptance at best.  This was a band out of place and uncomfortable in their own skin.  Now, with ex-Lynch Mob vocalist Robert Mason onboard, the band seem to have truly picked up the pieces and remembered how to rock. 

Iconic producer Keith Olsen made sure this album lived up to his standards, resulting in a fun, 80's sounding, hard rocking set of tunes.  "Cocaine Freight Train" is a bluesy rocker that says it all, while "Dusty's Revenge" is one of the best songs the band has ever written.  This is not a hair band album at all, it is a solid hard rock album that sounds damned fine cranked up to 11.

"Last Straw" is another hard rocker with some really cool guitar riffage going on.  "Snake" is a poisonous slab of hard rock complete with snide vocals and distorted solos.  The opening song, "Sex Ain't Love" is sure to get the attention of any rock fan and nail home the point that Warrant is through fucking around and are back better than ever.  

I suppose Rockaholic explains where the down boys went… they went back into the studio and released what could be the most consistent, and hard rocking, album of their career.   This one is a most pleasant surprise from a very unlikely source.  Hats off to the band for remembering why they got into this rat race to begin with. 

By Jeb Wright