UMUR
"Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Polish thrash metal/crossover act Acid Drinkers. The album was released through Under One Flag in June 1991, less than a year after the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Are You a Rebel?" from September 1990.
Stylistically Acid Drinkers continue the cartoonish and idiosyncratic approach to playing thrash/crossover/heavy metal that they initiated on "Are You a Rebel? (1990)". If you found them entertaining on the debut, chances are you´ll enjoy this sophomore release equally much, and if you didn´t enjoy the debut much, there´s probably no reason to check out "Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks". This is definitely a case of aquired taste. Not completely unlike their German contemporaries in Tankard, although Acid Drinkers are generally less hard edged and musically a bit more eclectic. There is a lot of silliness going on throughout the album, but Acid Drinkers are actually quite a well playing act. The strongly accented vocals by lead vocalist/bassist Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki are occasionally charming, but they can also become a bit too much. Not so much because of the accent, but more because of the over the top silly delivery and even more silly lyrics which are performed. Sometimes it´s funny, but mostly it´s coarse and ridiculous.
"Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks" features 15 tracks and a total playing time of 48:01 minutes, and that is slightly too long for its own good. Although some tracks are entertaining enough, there are several misfires featured on the album, which could well have been weeded out by a more critical producer. Among the misfires are a pretty horrible cover of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. It´s probably one of the worst choices for a cover song, as it´s almost impossible to do a song like that justice. And not surprisingly Acid Drinkers fall flat on their asses attempting to cover the legendary track.
"Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks" features a well sounding production job, so the quality of the basic elements of the album are relatively high. So I´ll throw out a more subjective rating than usual, because this IMO is simply too silly for its own good. To those who can enjoy the humour "Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks" is probably an enjoyable and entertaining crossover/thrash metal release, but if you´re like me, a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.