LITTLE CAESAR "Little Caesar" (1990)
by Dana Brittingham
Cover: 6 Pizza Pizzas out of 10
It's kind of a cartoon mascot logo of a red haired guy with clenched fists, clenched teeth and a cigar. It sort of looks like Conan O'Brien! It'd be so much better if he had a slice of pizza in his mouth instead of that cigar. From the cover, you can't tell what sort of band or album this is, but maybe that's a good thing. I've seen quite a bit worse.

Booklet: 6 Orders of Crazy Bread out of 10
Not an inspired design by any stretch of the imagination, but there's 2 full color photos of the band, plus lots of black and white live in-concert shots. These guys all look like bikers, except for the Native American-looking lead guitarist, named Apache. He must be Cherokee. All the lyrics are here, and presented quite legibly I might add. Plus the normal credits and thank you notes. Not a whole lot to bitch about, so let's move on.

Songs: 7 Cups of Crazy Sauce out of 10
If you're into gritty, southern-tinged bar rock with soulful vocals, then you're in luck! That's exactly what Little Caesar's self-titled CD has to offer. More raw and heavy than, say, .38 Special, more hillbilly than Baton Rouge, and not nearly as country as Steve Earl. The band's own songs are toe-thumpin' cousin-humpin' good fun, starting with the opener, "Down-N-Dirty," lightening up for the soulful "In Your Arms," and widing up with the rocker "Little Queenie." There's even two cover songs: Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," done extra crispy, and The Temptation's "I Wish It Would Rain," not unlike the Colonel's original recipe. Good production by Bob Rock - this disc has a good sound. Great shit kickin' music, if you're into that sort of thing.

Comments: No, this isn't a solo album from Warrant's tour manager. Little Caesar formed in the late 80's in Los Angeles, released an EP in 1989 entitled "Name Your Poison," then followed the next year with their full-length debut. The video for "Chain of Fools" got decent rotation and the single got played a fair amount. Vocalist Ron Young made an appearance in the film Terminator 2, in which he hit Arnold Schwarzenegger with a pool cue and then was promptly thrown through a window. Someone should've told Ron you can't go around doing shit like that to a T-800! Little Caesar released two more albums - 1992's "Influence" and 1998's "This Time It's Different..." before disbanding into oblivion. I do like their deep dish though, and you can't fuck with that crazy bread.