Poison Albums Ranked! Hair Metal Haven, Episode 2

[@joeylyons4549]

Thanks for your service my brother !!!

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Wow, so sorry I must've missed this comment so long ago. Anyway, thank you so much, and sorry I'm getting back to you so late.

[@golgothaassassin5035]

I seen Poison and Warrent twice in the late 80's with like 18 thousand people in the civic coliseum in Knoxville TN, then later in like 94 or 95 I seen Warrant in a little theater in Knoxville with about 100 people and It was great. They put on a hell of a show and played for a long time. They played old covers in their set. what amazed us was that they put so much into that little show. They couldn't have made any money. I respect the guys from Warrant for that show. Grunge was king then, but they came out and showed that they could kick ass with the best of them. Those guys came from nothing and suffered to make it and lost everything over a change in culture, but even after losing out, they were still out rocking.

[@christinaweinmangeriatrics1689]

I’m still a hair metal girl. I still listen to it and 80s music lol. I never was a grunge fan in any way. I just didn’t want the hair bands to keep going on.

[@MelvinZoopers]

Hair Metal is always a good topic of discussion!

[@tcb7098]

Got the Flesh and Blood album before they changed the cover as well. Saw that tour.

[@chrisstaff5870]

me to

[@wadepitre579]

Please make more videos I loved it

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Thanks for watching! Episode #3 coming tomorrow night!

[@kevinsmith7-7-7]

Deeper cuts on Look What The Cat Dragged In are what make that a Classic 💄🤘

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Thanks for watching! New video coming Sunday!

[@christinaweinmangeriatrics1689]

My cousins ex girlfriend was in the Fallen Angel video. She is the girl getting off the bus when Susie gets on Bret’s motorcycle

[@briankae1556]

Great videos! I like how in depth you talk about the albums and songs before you do your ranking. I agree Flesh And Blood is all killer no filler! Life loves a tragedy is one of my all time fave songs. Also … I am one of the Native Tongue defenders! LOL, I do love that album. Can’t wait for more videos! Some of my favorite bands related to that era are Tesla, Skid Row, Aerosmith and Motley.

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Hey, Brian, thanks a lot for watching and commenting... even if you like Native Tongue. ;-) jk Episode number 3 in which I rank the Cinderella albums drops tonight! And you'll definitely be getting videos about your favorite bands--Skid Row is in the works! Thanks again for watching, I truly do appreciate it!

[@lorenzoferguson7055]

I LOVE POISON. Good job on the commentary and rankings.🤘

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it! New video coming Sunday night!

[@Dodgeman325]

Great review and comments. I would add Living For The Minute and Face The Hangman to Open Up (deep cut B sides released back in the day) both great songs!

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Good point, I could have added those songs. Thanks for watching and commenting! Episode 3 on Cinderella coming tomorrow!

[@80sglammetalcast]

Great stuff brother. Some good and funny takes🤘

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Thanks, brotha! Looking forward to combining our knowledge in the future!

[@trippy2767]

I’m liking the channel. I always thought Poison had good singles but much of the deeper tracks were average at best. There are some gems on their albums but the singles were really good. If you ever wonder why these guys were signed, see them live and you will see why. It’s a fun high energy show! And that energy hasn’t faded in almost 40 years.

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Thanks, man! Poison definitely benefits from the energy and fun of their live show. I didn't see the stadium tour, but I've seen all 3 bands live many times, and Poison easily puts on the best show. Keep an eye out for episode 3 by the end of the week, and thanks for watchin'!

[@CharlieHernandez-zy4ci]

This is great. I always thought Crack A Smile And More was an awesome album that didn’t get enough credit.

[@NYUK-x-4]

I got a bootleg copy off ebay back in 98, the record company wouldnt release and because of the bootlegs they finally did, but most of us already had it by then.

[@patrickreeves4650]

@@NYUK-x-4 i also got a bootleg leg of it in 1997. my buddy used to post on the poison aol message boards back in the aol infancy. a place called buccaneer records had it, and charged $40 for it. the cover was the same, and had all the same tracks, except for the ones capitol records added (the demos and gotta face the hangman). the lore behind that bootleg is really interesting. a lot of people think poison put it out to be bootlegged as there was a lot of anger at the label for putting out the greatest hits, and not releasing the album. even with the sales of the greatest hits going platinum within a year of its release, they still sat on the record. wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

[@MetalMan73100]

Enjoyable ranking, especially for a casual Poison fan like myself. I am the same age as the Guru, and have had their first three albums for decades. I probably won´t add to the number of Poison CDs on my shelf, since there is so much great hair metal out there yet to be bought and appreciated. I love this channel. I enjoy the reviews, the commentary, the reminiscing and the recommendations. Discogs and eBay very often receive orders from me after I have watched another episode of the Hair Metal Guru. Thank you for the great content👍

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Shit, Brother, sorry about the late response, and thank you so much for the kind words... seriously, I love hearing that people like you are getting something out of what I do. I appreciate you.

[@MetalMan73100]

@@HairMetalGuru419 No problem at all. Thank you again for the great content - so enjoyable! Please keep triggering my shopping sprees on Discogs, LOL😂

[@tcb7098]

I had bought the open up and say ahh cassette before the cover was changed, of course now its not a big deal. I saw them open for David Lee Roth and was energetic.

[@johnholden1968]

Hey Guru. Absolutely love the channel from Melbourne Australia. Only found the channel 5 days ago. Open up say ahhh is my favourite Poison Album. Live my life motto to Nothing but a good time. 9:50

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Shit, sorry about the late response... thank you so much! Seriously.

[@NYUK-x-4]

Rikki said the cover of Look, CC had a breakout because of the makeup they had to airbrush him, and so they did the rest of them to the point they looked porcelain. Cry Tough was a song from the Matt Smith era. Open up, CC said once back then said that Tearin down the walls was his proudest solo up until that point. circa 90. Flesh and Blood was and is my favorite album of all time, any in music. Yes, Life loves a tragedy should have been a single. My opinion 1. Flesh & Blood 2. Open Up and say ahh 3. Crack a smile 4. Look What the cat dragged in 5. Swallow this live's (STUDIO SONGS) Those songs show that the next album would have been a multi platinum album... BUT anyways and 6. Native Tongue

[@djgibson2770]

This has been an interesting review. I don't know how common this is, but did anyone else know that Hell or High Water was actually the official song for the Gulf War?

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Hey, thanks for watching! And, no, I did not know that. Wow, that's crazy--how in the world did that happen. Thanks for sharing!

[@djgibson2770]

@@HairMetalGuru419 sure thing hoss and I am not sure.

[@patrickreeves4650]

@@HairMetalGuru419interesting fact is that as a marketing ploy to push the flesh and blood album into a high chart position, they donated over 25 thousand copies to soldiers stationed in Iraq during desert storm. they were able to count them as units sold, and gain chart position.

[@chrisstaff5870]

Tearin Down The Walls has one of the best guitar solos…double tracked etc…CC nailed it

[@offthecharts2272]

Ha! I was going to comment before you started talking about Hollyweird.. :) I saw them in TOronto for that tour with Winger, Cinderella & Faster Pussycat... I couldnt believe there was over 16000 people there... and i knew maybe TWO people who bought Hollyweird... :) So ya, they were a HUGE draw live at that time (one of the best concerts i have ever seen)

[@HairMetalGuru419]

I was one of the two who bought that album. ;-) PHENOMENAL live band, and I'm sure they put on the best show on the stadium tour. Thanks for watching, brotha!

[@offthecharts2272]

@@HairMetalGuru419 LOL Then that now makes THREE people who bought Hollyweird that i heard of! And good job on your channel so far - you talk and explain yourself very well! Us little KZbinrs must stick together! :)

[@HairMetalGuru419]

@@offthecharts2272 Amen! Thanks again for watching--I appreciate it! I enjoy your content as well!

[@patrickreeves4650]

i saw that same tour at jones beach in long island, ny. it poured rain, and it was a tuesday. the year before they sold it out, but that night they had maybe 1/3 of the crowd. winger was acoustic, fp played an abbreviated set, and poison asked everyone to come down and get close. it was kinda sad, because by the time they were at rock and roll all night, the place had maybe 1000 people left in it.

[@connors7078]

I was 16 when the #OpenUp tour came to Australia. I had to travel an hour in the wrong direction to get a bus. Ended up being an all night trip basically. It was awesome!

[@connors7078]

'Valley of Lost Souls' has grown to be my favourite song on #FleshAndBlood, alongside 'Something to Believe In' - such a moving ballad. Oh man, you loved 'Life Loves a Tragedy' too. These are my Top3 on the album today.

[@anthonylanni9804]

Cool channel. Let's do a hair metal ballad list

[@chrismarsh84]

Love your show man!! My era of music! ;)

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Shit, man, sorry I missed this for so long. Anyway, I appreciate it... seriously!

[@BigTee1973]

First off thank you for your service and what you have done for this country. Second speaking as a die-hard Poison fan I say everyone's entitled to their opinion. I agree with some of the things you said but disagree on poison songs recorded overall. Strongly agree with you about how Hollyweird was under produced. It could have been better. Also Flesh and blood did have five singles the fifth single was flesh and blood ( sacrifice) which a video was made for as well. Crack a smile had some really great hidden gems like Tragically unhip and That's the way I like it. Like you I wish they would get together with a great producer like Don was or Bob Rock and put out one more great record even if it's the last one. I think the die hard Poison fans deserve that

[@NYUK-x-4]

Always wondered what a Poison Bob Rock album would have sounded like.

[@patrickreeves4650]

i used to feel that back in 2004 or 2005, poison could have had a similar comeback to that like bon jovi had in 1999 with crush, had they put the ego's aside, hired someone like butch walker (who was producing modern hits at the time for a lot of popular artists), and recorded a strong album. the problem lies with bret michaels. he will not budge on requiring that any new songs are his, that he produces them, and that basically, he gets all the credit and cash. he has handcuffed poison for years from touring, and recording songs because he pushes his solo career to make more money. it shows in the quality of the stuff he releases. it looks cheap, sounds cheap, and only sells to soccer grandma's.

[@layn3904]

I agree 100% on this awesome analysis!! Great work!!

[@SpiritualHolyWars]

28:29 No, you were correct! They did kick Poison out of the band when CC left.

[@steel_horse7570]

poison ended (album wise) after Native Tongue for me. So my rankings... 1) Look what the cat dragged in 10/10, 2) Flesh and Blood 9.5/10, 3) Native Tongue 9/10 4) Open Up 8.5/10 Native Tongue was a great album but the issue I have with it is its too long - theres about 3 or 4 songs to many on it. A shorter version losing a few of the fillers wouldve been better. Oddly I hated Native Tongue when I bought it back in the day but love it now. I always felt Open Up...was an album of fillers plus an annoying cover version. Fallen Angel, Good TIme and Thorn are excellent but for me the rest are rather forgettable. Oddly you say you dont really like Native Tongue but your scores for the songs are a lot higher the others - so deep down you love it!

[@patrickreeves4650]

native tounge required poison fan's to do two things: 1) forget that c.c. was in the band 2) acknowledge that they were growing up and maturing. fans still bought it, and there wasn't much of a shortage in the exposure. mtv pushed stand...but they didn't push until you suffer some at all. i don't think that song ever got much play. the tour also suffered from having damn yankees and firehouse on it. both were coming off of massive successes, but i think people were a little spent on all three at that point.

[@joeb2588]

I have to say "Life Loves a Tragedy" is amazing. Could be my favorite Poison song.

[@rickybobby6579]

I am a 6 week old fetus, living in my mother's womb, (she gave me an iPad), and even though I've only been alive for 42 days, I love Poison so much,...they make me nostalgic for a time I wasn't even around to experience.....

[@mattc756]

Where did you get all your poison posters and stuff behind you at

[@robertethier1217]

Hello! ☺️. I would have really liked Let It Play to be a single, the energy and complicity of the group is at its peak, and we find this pleasure like Mama Don't Dance. I agree with Flesh & Blood as the first choice, this album ages the test of time very well, I think the fact that C.C. Deville ventured to explore more vintage guitar sounds helps a lot with that. Otherwise the strength of the compositions are very mature. They are excellent musicians on this album. The producer has a lot to do with it too. It's an excellent album, nothing weak.

[@danoguitar]

I love Poisons Power To The People. All 5 studio tracks are awesome

[@stephensanchez9590]

That song by CC I HATE EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY BUT MINE IS A GREAT SONG LIKE YOU SAID I SEEN POISON IN 2011 THEIR 25TH ANNIVERSARY PLAY THAT SONG AND IT WAS GREAT AND THEY DO PACK IN A BIG CROWD,WARRANT WAS THE OPENING BAND AND ROBERT MASON DOES A GREAT JOB SINGING FOR THEM LOVE HIM IN LYNCH MOB

[@Widdy5150]

Hey there @hairmetalguru Being an English Gent, it would be great if you covered bands like Thunder, Little Angels, Tigertailz etc on an episode. Keep up the Great Work brother.... keep the Poodle Rock flag flying high!! 👍🏼🤘🏼

[@stevecowling154]

You’re wrong on Native Tongue however completely agree with you on Flesh and Blood being best album

[@masonmixon8031]

The 3rd Tesla album 5 Man Acoustical Jam rocked The 4th Tesla album Psycotic Supper rocked too

[@Guy0me_M]

You should have a better account of followers because your way of talking about metal is very good and interesting, i like your reviews and ranking

[@connors7078]

I agree on your album order too ;)

[@sdproductions4309]

Totally agree 100 percent

[@stephensanchez9590]

I have seen poison about 4 or 5 times and they were amazing ithink the first time was 1999 it was LA GUNS,SLAUGHTER,DOKKEN, CINDERELLA ,AND POISON,IT WAS A GREAT CONCERT AND 2OR3 TIMES BETWEEN 2000AND THE LAST TIME WAS 2011 THERE 25TH ANNIVERSARY THEY WERE GREAT BUT I WAS 13 IN 1986 ALSO

[@martyhafermann938]

Great assessment. I'm your age and agree

[@GLAM_ROCK_MAN]

Look what thr cat dragged in is the best album its the hair metal album of poison

[@chrismarsh84]

Flesh and Blood is my favorite

[@toddgambrel4316]

After native tongue the best thing that came from them is from Ricki being on the Devil City Angels S/T album with Tracii Guns and Eric Brittingham

[@Shane_Peoples]

Native tongue is my favorite

[@John-bo1sz]

I love Poison. Saw them with Warrant at least 3 times that tour. But here's some trivia I bet you weren't aware of. Poison got sued for their song I want action because it sounds exactly like We go Rockin by Swedish band Easy Action. Take a listen and you can see how obvious it was. I believe they settled out of court but not sure of an amount. I agree with you on the harmonica, Bret needs to give it a rest. My all time favorite song is Fallen Angel. I can't even listen to Every Rose anymore. I'm so burned out on it Flesh & Blood sacrifice should have been a single. Not a huge fan of Unskinny Bop. Still too much harmonica on Strange days of Uncle Jack. Overall it's a decent album but not as good as Open up and say ahhh. When they released Native Tongue I was pissed. Hated it and quit listening to new Poison. I checked out after album 3. But I love greatest hits cd. And hail to Sturgis! From your rocker brother in SD to your south. Keep Rockin.

[@chrisstaff5870]

Where did you pick up the original version of Crack A Smile? I have Crack A Smile and More....

[@stephensanchez9590]

Their were a few hair metal albums that did decent in 1992 and even headbangers ball was playing grunge trying to make both styles relevant and try to coexist but that didnt happen i personally think grunge is a waste look what happened to most the big grunge bands,chris cornell, scott Weiland, mike starr,and layne Staley thats just off the top pf my head, our music has alot of the best vocalists,guitarist, and drummers in music thats a fact and so many great songs

[@jamesflanagan7693]

CC was sorely missed on Native Tongue and Crack A Smile, but it really wasn't as much for his guitar. The guitar on those albums wasn't as good as CC for sure but it's the songwriting. That's why Bret's solo stuff is good but not great. That's not saying that Bret can't write great songs because he can. There's something about the dynamic between Bret and CC together that makes great songs! Sure Bret did Every Rose and CC did Talk Dirty but that dynamic where Bret brings that 70's and 80's hard rock vibe and CC brings this almost punk rock vibe and they mesh and compromise and you get that Poison sound. Without one or the other you don't have that balance. So with CC gone the songs as a whole just weren't as good! They need each other! With Hollyweird, CC was back but you could tell that collaboration just wasn't there. Probably why Bret doesn't wanna do another one. CC did his thing and Bret did his thing. But maybe if CC let Bret polish up his songs a little and Bret to let CC do the same to his then we could have gotten a classic Poison album!

[@erikblanton9949]

Warrant would have had 3 big albums if they had started in 1986 like poison.

[@seanlandonclarke]

I think GnR pushed all these bands into a bluesy direction. Appetite is soaking in blues… although that album didn’t hit until, when?… 88 into 89? Anyway, it just seemed like after GnR, the sound and look of these bands altered into that direction.

[@robintaylor485]

John Nada Lol

[@ryant3600]

I am a huge Poison fan. I got beat up for being a Poison fan back in middle school, got jumped by guys that were really into metal like Priest, Metallica, etc. Thing is, I was into those bands too. But I wore my Poison Concert shirt to school and had a Poison patch on my denim jacket along side many other band logo patches including Megadeth, Anthrax Maiden etc. So I never understood the beatdown.. But whatever. I stuck to my guns and continued to wear my Poison shirt from time to time, but I also wore Maiden, Dokken, Kiss, Metallica etc shirts too. Again I guess 38 years later I’m still wondering why… ha But Huge Poison fan I think I saw them the most of any other band I think it’s a tie between them Cinderella, Maiden, Ozzy and Metallica actually. But here we go with my list and keep in mind this is my mood today sometimes my rankings change.. 1. Flesh & Blood 2. Look 3. Open Up 4. Crack a Smile 5. Native 6. Poison’d 7. Hollyweird It was really hard for me to get behind Native Tongue for a long time. I mean when I heard Ritchie was the new guitarist, I knew him from my Roch Chops VHS tape of him shredding. So I thought we were going to get a more technical shreddy guitar album. It just totally caught me off guard, which if you listen to the bonus songs on the Swallow This live theres a couple songs there where you can hear the transition to where they were wanting to go with Native. I just in a million years thought it was going to be shreddy. It took me years to appreciate it. I do think had CC been with them and they went that blues route I think it would have gotten over better.

[@HairMetalGuru419]

Hey, man, thanks for sharing all that... really cool of you. Damn, being a Poison fan from '86-88 wasn't always easy. Appreciate you watching, Brother.

[@Jayhawk9]

Still think native tongue is a great album and the hollyweird album was absolutely horrible

[@BurnLikeAFlame]

Some negative points for the first album for having I Want Action, a blatantly obvious ripoff of 1983's "We Go Rocking" by Easy Action. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnasmI1opLSHe8ksi=qys3BMqM_IjNls6o&t=66

[@TestarossaRocks]

Good love and body talk are two of my favorite songs, however I’d bet the farm it wasn’t Brett playing the harmonica on the record. Also crack a smile is great if you cut the goofy song intros.

[@patrickreeves4650]

it is a total shame that poison ignores the crack a smile album and acts as if it doesn't exist. it is clearly their best album, and saraceno was a fantastic player. i hate that the native tongue album gets a lot of unnecessary hate. it is a well crafted album, that is a departure from what poison was known for. most artists relish the opportunity to try something new, and in my opinion, its most often the fan's that are unwilling to compromise. music is art, and artists should be allowed to try different things. a couple of things about your commentary on it...the album was recorded from late 1994-1995. the greatest hits was put out instead in the summer of 1996, and included the two tracks. bootlegs of the crack a smile were being sold online from feb 1997 until the point it was released in 2000. 3 years of bootlegging had been going on, and at points, the record was selling for $75 on ebay. one other note...hollyweird is the worst album this band ever did. the production was terrible, and rikki went on record after it was released saying that bret wouldn't do a new record unless he could produce it, and use his home studio. it shows in the product that was released. the album is so trashy bad.

[@jimthar17]

First two albums are great. FnB is good. Everything else is pretty much crap. Crack a Smile is "OK". Any song off OUASA would have been a better single than "Mama". Typically cover songs should never be singles. Especially when there's better songs on the album. Yeah the Blues thing is what ruined Poison. You can really see it creeping in on the Flesh & Blood album. And it went downhill after that. Same could be said for Cinderella drifting more into the blues arena with Long Cold Winter and especially Heartbreak Station. I think Livin' for the Minute and Sexual Thing are two of the most overlooked Poison songs out there. LFTM should have been on the OUASA album (it was a B-side) and Sexual Thing should have been on a better album.

[@christinaweinmangeriatrics1689]

Anthony just thought I would let you know that Rikki Rockett has a KZbin channel that is a paranormal channel. I know that a lot of the girls are going to say that they were in love with Bret but, for me it was Rikki who was on my walls🩷🩷