Stephen
After the successful double platinum certified "..Twice Shy", Great White kept the train rollin' with "Hooked". Released in 1991, they're still riding on the highway of classic rock and roll with bluesy shot. While the previous album leaned toward the commercial side, "Hooked" is more of an idealistic approach which introduced a bold vintage-style rock that could take you back to the mid 70s. Lack of big radio hits like its predecessor, "Hooked" still managed to seize Gold status and considered the band's underrated record and one of their strongest albums to date. The fact that this was backed up by an excellent sound production as well, I will say that's not a false opinion.
Among ten tracks offered, I could easily found many great and favorite tracks here, including the opener, "Call It Rock N' Roll", The Angels cover of "Can't Shake It", and the heart-throbbing piano driven ballad, "Lovin' Kind". Onto the second half, you'll be swarmed with other fantastic tracks such as the homey non-distorted bluesy rock of "South Bay Cities", the uptempo "Desert Moon", and the beautiful acoustical thang of Small Faces single of "Afterglow". The latter was the final single before Steve Marriott left the band and later formed Humble Pie, and Great White did a fantastic job covering that track.
The album's original cover was photographed by John Scarpati and featured a nude female model on a giant hook which later was censored by the protest of Parents' Music Resource Center. It'll be good to have the rare original artwork, but no matter what version you have, it's the music that's important, and this release contained an important music you shouldn't miss if you favor the classic style of bluesy rock combined with a considerable amount of mid-80s glam metal flavor.