DRAMA QUEEN DIE "Drama Queen Die"
by Rikki Nugent

Cover: 5 Oreo Blizzards out of 10
Oooh, scary shit! Well, not really. It's a white skull on a black background. Actually it reminds me of the Punisher skull logo. Even more so, it reminds me of Jimbo Jones from the Simpsons, the skinny bully kid often seen loitering at the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart, & who's always wearing that black shirt with a skull on it. Anyhow, that's what I've got to say about the cover. If you don't like it... blow me.

Booklet: 3 Peanut Buster Parfaits out of 10
No doubt about it: Drama Queen Die's booklet looks cheap. Just various thanks one one panel; the other panel has black and white pictures of Chip Z'Nuff, Ricky Parent, and some other guy. The back cover has the track listing and some basic production notes, but it's printed in a dark pink/purple font on a black background and is kind of hard to read. Like this.

Songs: 6 Dilly Bars out of 10
The first song on this CD is called "Drama Queen Die," which is also the name of the band and the name of the album. It's actually probably the best song on this disc too. Sounds like an old school hair metal tune. Other tracks I like are called "One Way Or Another," which is also old school but a bit heavier, and an acoustic semi-ballad called "Naperville," a song which is, as I've learned, named after a boring Chicago suburb. The rest of the songs range from party rockers to straight-ahead old school metal. And some are middle-of-the-road (boring), while one or two are nearly unlistenable. The singer's voice sounds like someone else from back in the day but I can't quite figure out who. Maybe a little like Mike Tramp, or a little like the singer from Every Mother's Nightmare or that band from Florida called Julliet. Not terrible vocals though they get on my nerves during certain songs. The singer also is the lead guitarist, and I have to admit his playing is tons better than his singing.

Comments: Drama Queen Die is the pet project of one Andrew Walker, who's a young whippersnapper guitar player guy from the Chicago 'burbs. He wrote these songs and got Chip Z'Nuff and Ricky Parent to play the rhythm parts in the studio. I didn't really know what to expect from this CD, but it's very un-Enuff Z'Nuff-like. In a way, it's actually kind of cool to hear Chip and Ricky rock out all old school like that. That having been said, I would've probably liked this band better if they were called "Dairy Queen Die," since I'm a Baskin-Robbins kind of person. Don't tell Floyd though -- he might run me down with his ice cream truck, and that would suck.