TIGERTAILZ - “Bezerk“ (1990) REVIEW & FULL ALBUM

Tracklist: 1. SickSex 2. Love Bomb Baby 3. I can fight dirty too 4. Noise Level Critical 5. Heaven 6. Love Overload 7. Action City 8. Twist And Shake 9. Squeeze it Dry of the Wild Bonus Track: 11. Love Junkie LineUp: Kim Hooker: Vocals / Vocales Jay Pepper: Guitars / Guitarras Pepsi Tate: Bass / Bajo (. 2007) Ace Finchum: Drums / Batería Somewhat late came the Welsh Tigertailz with this lost jewel of Glam. When checkered shirts and sloppy looks were just around the corner, these animals dressed up as Nikki Sixx in her sluttier years and the more transsexual Vinnie Vincent in this Bezerk. Excellent vinyl in a double folder presentation with a threatening cover and a group photo that makes the looks of the Poison on their first album almost normal. The group started rolling around 86 but it wasn’t until 1990 that this Bezerk was released, very probably the only record for which they are remembered, of course those who do it. But be careful because behind that super Glam look is a great heavy metal sound. Those knife-sharp guitars are due to the great production of guru Chris Tsangarides, who soon after would make Judas Priest’s Painkiller sound the way we know it. Another deluxe collaboration on the album is the keyboards of the great Don Airey, so be careful, the album is serious. After a symphonic intro of Arab rolls courtesy of Don Airey (a la Sahara from the House of Lords), the riff of “Sicksex“ opens with some guitars from the Mötley Crüe school a la “Looks That Kill“, a very good presentation, heavy and direct. The pace changes with something more à la Poison. That chorus of “Love Bomb Baby“ is sweet as ice cream. The theme is festive and pop rock, it didn’t play after “SickSex“. But we’re talking about Tigertailz’s Bezerk and that’s the movie. We recover the heavy metal pulse in “I can’t fight dirty too“, which is reminiscent of the Germans Accept at some point. A radio DJ announces the band’s new single, “Noise Level Critical“, a good hard-rock song with some air of Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way“ in its verses but with more sleazy party in the chorus. Not bad. It’s time for the ballad, it couldn’t fail, “Heaven“ is precious and Don Airey’s work gives the song an extra class, nice chorus, very classical and rock, above many power ballads of the time. We turn the album around to find heavy guitars like knives again in “Love Overload“, the song evolves towards more hard rock and funk terrain with very good percussion by Ace Finchum. We’re still on the same wavelength with “Action City“, heavy metal from Los Angeles a la Crüe or even Ratt. In these two songs, the vocal melodies of Kim Hooker (damn, if even the singer has the name of a porn actress) together with the sharp guitars have even reminded me of Stryper at some point. We return to the Poison roll, this is when I think the group is weakest, that “Twist and shake“ can drive you crazy, but what the hell! We’re at a glam-party! Let’s get drunk and spank some asses!! More or less along the same lines is “Squeeze it Dry“, the perfect song for an eighties college party. The contribution that Don Airey can make on this type of subject is curious. The record closes as it opened, with a sharp metallic sound. That mix of the Los Angeles street sound and European heavy metal is very interesting and unique. This historic Glam gem closes with the sleaze and party “Call of the Wild“ with a fast pace that makes us shake our heads, which would be ideal for the best moment of the party, when everyone is already drunk and crazy. The bonus track is a funky Living Color type song called “Love Junkie“, which is not on the original edition. BEZERK is a lost jewel, a record that if it had been created a few years earlier and in the USA, it would have played on all the radio stations in the world. #Tigertailz #Bezerek #Glammetal #Hairmetal #BritishMetal