| Cover:
7 Pairs of Pleather Pants of 10
Look, Ma! It's Rikki's eyes, nose, and mouth, adorned with rhinestones
and sparkly things. Looks like a Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie album
cover from way back in the 70s. It also reminds me of that one Hall
& Oates album cover that spawned the rumor that they were both gay
lovers. Not that there are any Hall & Oates songs on G4YS.
Anyhow, the CD cover is in keeping with the theme of the album title,
so it works for me.
Booklet:
7 Custom-Painted Toilet Seats out of 10
The G4YS booklet is a 6-page foldout that Rikki designed himself.
One side lists the songs and all the players that played on each respective
track, and also notes who wrote and originally recorded each song. The
back of the booklet has a picture of an opened metal road case, and
on the inside, there's various items (a pack of cigarettes, an eyeliner
pencil, a tube of chapstick, matches, a condom) that are all labeled
with the various song titles on G4YS. I have to admit that
it's pretty cool. The other panel has some production notes and the
extensive thank-you list. But wait... Rikki's forgetting to thank someone!
Wonder who it could be. That's 3 points off the booklet right there,
Dr. Rockett.
Songs: 7
Defunct Advice Columns out of 10
Glitter 4 Your Soul is Rikki Rockett's long awaited tribute
album to glitter rock of the 1970's -- the stuff Rikki listened to as
a kid that inspired him to grow up and become the glam rock performance
mogul that we all know today. For example, there are songs originally
done by The Sweet, Mott the Hoople, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones.
Most of the guitar duties are handled by Blues Saraceno and bass by
Chuck Garric, now with Alice Cooper's band. Speaking of the Coop, one
of G4YS' many guest vocalists is John Corabi, covering "Elected."
Also joining the rogues gallery is Jizzy Pearl on the Angel classic
"Can You Feel It," Gina Shock on The New York Dolls' "Trash,"
and none other than Bret Michaels covering "Tear It Down,"
originally recorded by Starz. Admittedly, Bret Micahels' appearance
is one of this disc's highlights. I honestly think they should have
put this song on Poison's Hollyweird CD, as it's way better
than that other cover song they did. (C.C. DeVille also does guest backing
vocals on "All The Way From Memphis," but he must've been
way down in the mix 'cause I didn't notice him, and he's hard not to
notice.) One critique of G4YS is that the songs don't vary
all that much from their originals, and a lot of them have been covered
time and again by other artists. Rikki's cover of Gary Glitter's "Do
You Wanna Touch Me," with vocals by Lucy Levinsohn, really isn't
any different than Joan Jett's version of the same. Oh, and Rikki takes
vocal duties upon himself on T. Rex's "Life's A Gas." And
all I can say about that is, uh... there's a reason that you don't hear
Rikki sing very often, and you can hear it right here.
Comments: It's actually taken
us well over a year to write up this review, but considering it took
the better part of a decade for Rikki to put out this disc in the first
place, we don't feel all that bad about it. Better late then never!
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