Rocktober 4: Warrant

"Machine Gun"

If I were making a list of quintessential hair metal bands—and I suppose I am, in a way, although with no particular order or other rhyme or reason applies—Warrant would definitely be in the top five. Probably the top two. Other than Poison, I can't think of another band whose image more perfectly exemplifies the sort of vapidly genial fun-fun-fun party boy theme of the genre. I mean, come on, this is a band whose signature song is "Cherry Pie."

That was their image through their first two albums, at any rate. So you can imagine my surprise when I popped the third, Dog Eat Dog, into my disc player and heard this song come pouring out. Sure, it's about sex, a familiar enough topic in their oeuvre (and for all the music we'll be reviewing this month, for that matter), but it has a heavier vibe than their other output to this point. And that vibe carries throughout the album, along with plenty of other, more serious lyrical subjects. It was different from what I expected, but I loved it. I definitely play this album more than the other two, although I like those just fine.

It seems to me that no one could have been happier when grunge started leading rock music down a more serious path than Jani Lane, Warrant's singer and chief songwriter. He famously chafed at having to write the song "Cherry Pie" after a record exec demanded a new track that could be used as a single on their already completed second album...and then, of course, that became the album title as well, and when the video came out, their image was sealed. People apparently found it hard to take them seriously, though, even when the music went in that direction. This was the last album the classic lineup would record together, and Lane was in and out of the band himself until he passed away in 2011.

The name Warrant still lives on, with the four classic members currently touring with a different singer (Wikipedia tells me Robert Mason has been with them since 2008). They have two albums out with him...I should give them a listen, just to know what they're up to these days, if nothing else. I haven't paid much attention since Dog Eat Dog, though--I have Ultrophobic in my library but rarely listen to it. Still, those first three albums are great, with the first two being just a lot of fun and the third being a nice change of pace.