Stephen
Cats In Boots, a short-lived sleaze act which consisted of two different countries, American with Joel Ellis and Randy Meers, and Japanese with Yasuhiro Hatae and Takashi O'Hashi. Some might know Ellis from his days with Heavy Bones, one-time band with Frankie Banali, but this time, 'Kicked and Klawed' is a totally different beast. Lots of uptempo, energetic songs, wrapped with that dirty sleaze effect, and the band also has some monstrous riffs they should be proud of.
'Shotgun Sally' is full of firey hooks, a brilliant starter, this is one of their strongest tracks and probably legendary that many knew this band only by this one song. 'Nine Lives (Save Me)' is very sleazy, the riffs are awesome, and this stayed as my other personal fave since I first heard them million years ago. 'Her Monkey' is as bluesy as Great White with fast tempo; 'Long, Long Way From Home' is a great hard rock tune; 'Coast To Coast' and 'Judas Kiss' are as huge as the first two tracks; and 'Heaven On A Heartbeat' is the most metal track of the album.
Some weak tunes are probably 'Whip It Out', 'Every Sunrise', and 'Evil Angel', but all in all, they didn't prevent this album from being a bad-ass that people mostly forgot. With many superb songs all over the place, and recently reissued by Rock Candy after being sold very expensive for a while on the market, it's a best bargain you can have out there.