SOUTHGANG - "Tainted Angel" (1991)
by Donna Anderson

Cover: 3 tainted angels out of 10.
The cover is just the four guys standing in front of a dimly lit backdrop, meant to look like a dark street. They're trying to look hard, but Jesse looks far too much like a girl to be tough. The cover has their logo on it. It's alright, but nothing too creative at all. The guys look cute though, so what would have been a 2 becomes a 3.

Booklet: 6 Tainted Angels out of 10.
The booklet is slightly better than average. It has the lyrics, which is always a bonus. It's kind of bland in that it's black lyrics on white paper, and there are no other pictures of the band than the one on the cover. There is a picture of a very indisputably tainted angel on the inside as well. Typcial rock cliche. Being that this was Southgang's first effort, it's probably about as good as could be expected.

Songs: 6 Tainted Angels out of 10.
The songs on this cd prove that this band had potential to be a big pop act. The songs are catchy and none of them get into anything deep. It's just a typical "sex, drugs and rock and roll" record, which is cool. It's biggest downfall is that it's overproduced. Sometimes it sounds like N-Sync's producer must have gotten ahold of it. Overall, though, this is a great cd. In hindsight, it show's Butch Walker's potential as a great songwriter. Too bad he didn't write any of the lyrics though!

Comments: Wonder how Jesse Harte feels now that his bandmates and high school buddies have gone on to have more success in the music industry than he did?