Stephen
The debut of a later-day glam act, Crash Alley, was released in 1990 by Paphian, an independent small label. This disc has been out-of-print for sometimes and used to be very expensive until Retrospective remastered this disc years ago. I know nothing about the newly reissued version but the original disc had a horrible production. It sounded raw and dusty, like a low budget album recorded in their grandma's basement, and this is a huge let-down, especially when you bought this disc for an insane price while ago.
Crash Alley's musical style is a mix of Motley Crue, White Lion, and Poison. Some said their sound also closer to Wildside. Wayne Estraga's vocal is highly reverbed, similar to many early 80s thrash vocal mix. Fisher and Pennace gave a decent guitar fills, but at times I must admit they're providing a memorable riffs and solos. The album highlights mostly laid right on the first half of the album. The opener, "Wild Love" is a good rocker but unfortunately lack of powerful chorus. "Rejection" and "Lonely Eyes" both are a great hard rock tunes and my fave. "Break The Wall Down" is a good power ballad that was meant to penetrate the chart. "Can You Feel The Fire" has a commercial bite and probably the last great song of the album. Honestly, tracks like "Fatal Attraction" and "Nite Life" had a big potential with a great verse but sadly going downward at Chorus.
Crash Alley is clearly only for glam metal hardcore and since you can find it cheap nowaday, this could be an option if you're running out of idea of what to buy next. For casual fans, don't bother, you can find many other better albums outside.