rtbuck
Senior Member
Lita Ford ‘Wicked Wonderland’
Label: JLRG Ent.
Review by Bucky
This past summer I noticed that Lita Ford was scheduled to play an outdoor concert along with Canadian rock singer Sass Jordan in Lockport, NY which is close to my area so my wife & I decided to go. I had always been a fan of Lita’s since her days with the Runaways. I’ll never forget going into a local record shop that specialized in Metal in the early 80’s & I spotted Lita’s ‘Out for Blood’ record.
I could not believe my eyes with that cover photo of Lita with high blonde hair standing in front of a huge metal chain link spider web clad in a black leather teddy revealing her flat stomach & exposing all of her “Dangerous Curves”, & wearing knee high leather studded boots. She was clutching a bloody guitar which she appeared to have ripped in half.” Wow, this was only the cover” I thought, & I proceeded to buy the album. That album & all of her releases since have been great but I hadn’t heard much about her since she released ‘Black’ in 1995. My wife & I went to see her show in Lockport & I could not believe the powerful performance she put on beginning with her opening song “Larger Than Life” which happens to be my favorite song by her. She looked great & was there to rock & roll & kick some ass. 3 or 4 songs in she threw down her guitar & ripped off her leopard skin jacket & threw that down revealing a hard ass denim vest. She grabbed some papers from some huge guy with a spiked Mohawk at the side of the stage & said she was going to play a song called “Scream” from her up & coming album ‘Wicked Wonderland ‘. This was the first time she was playing it live & joining her singing it was her husband: Jim Gillette who happened to be the huge guy with the spiked Mohawk (I still can’t believe he sang in Nitro & I still have their first album). “Scream” sounded phenomenal & the next song they played was also from the new album & the tune was “Crave” where once again Gillette joined in the singing. My wife & I could not believe how heavy these two songs sounded & couldn’t wait for the release of ‘Wicked Wonderland’.
October 6th finally got here & I went out to purchase the new album. I was debating whether to take the easy way out & download it from Itunes but I am glad I went out & bought the CD because the artwork on the covers & throughout the booklet that comes with the CD is amazing. There is so much to see with all the artwork made by Rob Zombie bassist Piggy D that it would take a good month or so to let it all sink in. The album is everything I had hoped for plus more. The album has 15 heavy grinding tunes totaling well over 60 minutes. The album is a heavy erotic trip of sex & fantasy which actually is a ‘Wicked Wonderland’. The entire album only features Lita, her husband Jim Gillette, & Greg Hampton (who had previously worked on Alice Cooper’s ‘Along Came a Spider) handling all the music. The whole album is dark & heavy & I mean”DARK & HEAVY!” “Crave”, the album’s opening song gives you the feeling that you’re a slave being led into a dark musty dungeon by your fetish dream girl. Lita wraps her demanding voice around the tune’s heavy rhythm while intertwining some wah wah effect lead guitar. Her husband Jim lets loose a growling chorus exchange with Lita as the duo yell out “I am the one you want, you want me, I am the one you crave, you crave me…”which leads to some fiery lead guitar. “Piece (Hell Yeah)” is really cool with Jim & Lita both singing lead in which Jim sings a bit in the same vein as Axl Rose. “Piece (Hell Yeah)” is one of those songs that just makes you want to throw your fist in the air yelling out “Hell Yeah!” The song seems to deal with Lita being one hell of hot rock Goddess & although her fans can drool over her…do not try to touch her or else you have to deal with her 6’ 2” 275lb husband who will skin you alive. Without a break in between songs Lita & Jim’s 2 children are reciting the Pledge of Allegiance & the hard driving “Patriotic S.O.B.” cranks out of your speakers. At about the 3 minute mark, the song seems to end for a second or two & then Lita pays homage to Jimi Hendrix by revisiting Hendrix’s “Woodstock” version of “The Star Spangled Banner” in which she plays the first verse. Actually, later on at the ending of “Betrayal”(in my opinion the heaviest track on the album) she revisits Hendrix once again. It’s really tough for me to pick a favorite tune off the album but if I had to it would be between “Betrayal” & the fourth track on the album “Scream 4 Me” which has a crunching rhythm, phenomenal sounding bass run, & a chorus that will hook you in on the first listen. The title track is filled with catchy rhythms, blazing lead guitar, sultry vocals, & even some moans & groans from Lita. This song definitely would fit in right at home on an Alice Cooper album. “Sacred” is the only song that is a bit mellow but it still has a dark feel to it. “Love” is another song that has the feel of Alice Cooper’s ‘Brutal Planet’ or ‘Along Came a Spider’ albums. ”Bed” is a sex filled song dealing with S & M as the happy couple sing of tying each other to the bed, spanking, ***********, & it features the line “…Don’t give me pleasure with pain & always make me scream…). The closing song “Push” has a wild riff sounding like early 70’s Black Sabbath running through it. “Indulge”, “Love”, “Inside”, “Truth”, & “Everything” are all amazing tracks as well & overall I really feel this is Lita’s strongest album she’s ever released. I knew from the moment I heard her perform “Crave” & “Scream 4 Me” live this past summer that this album was going to be mind blowing & that’s just what it is!
Bucky
