Stephen
Coming out too late to the glam scene, this Oklahoma sleazevaganza quickly forgotten after this debut was launched in 1993. However, "Abusement Park" still considered a hidden gem by many cult fans and was reprinted with three different covers. This debut blows a ten thumping tracks, each has its own distinctive signature, derived from the sleazy Faster Pussycat, sharpened with the heavier edge from Motley Crue and Skid Row, and smoothed out with the melodical Poison. They got great guitar combos, they got a harsh and dirty vocal, they got an electrifying and hot-blooded drumming, but man the sound production is absurdly repulsive, probably because the money wasn't used in a great studio but well-spent for the destructive drugs, I'm not sure, but hey - that's what Dave Mustaine did.
"Babylon" is a thrashy hard-rock with a massive riffage similar to what's found in Skid Row's "Grind" era. "You're So Cool" even got the Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" vibe and "You Get What You Pay For" could be an underrated Motley Crue song. I can forget "Goin' Down" and "Mean Sex Machine", decent fillers though not that bad, but Erotic Suicide brought out an admirable upbeat Poison-meets-GNR swell in "Can't Remember", "Comes Around Goes Around", and "Ties Me Up". The latter track mentioned even got the seductive sex moan which probably will remind you of the infamous "Rocket Queen". The regular thing for a glam band to do is to slip a ballad or two in an album and "Sweet Summer Nights" is the predictable routine, borrows a bit from Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye" moment in their verse, this song is sounded awfully average to me. Of the whole tracks listed here, "Wait A Minute" is my best pick, an ecstatic commercial track with Poison's "Fallen Angel" fun vibe, but that's of course only if you like Poison, cause if you don't, "Babylon" or "Ties Me Up" could be a better choice.
"Abusement Park" is a set of you've-heard-before sleaze tunes, not a very shiny album especially in the sound department, not very original, but if you're not expecting an ultimate 10/10 perfect glam album, you can give this a shot, my bet is, you won't be disappointed.