After reading Stephen's review of the Priscilla "High Fashion" disc,I felt compelled to offer my opinion on this release,and not simply vent my personal vendetta with the band.
Firstly,although having been influenced by Poison ,to some degree,Priscilla already existed and had their sound firmly intact before Pretty Boy Floyd even existed.In fact,one could even go so far as to say that PBF was,in fact,influenced by Priscilla,as the latter band's manager,Mitch Karczewski,had paired the two bands up on a number of bills when PBF first came through the Ohio area.At that time,PBF only had a select number of the songs written that would go on to compose the entire "Leather Boys With Electric Toys" album,nearly a full year after those show dates.The songs on "Leather Boys..." would actually go on to show some drastic lyrical similarities to many of the songs which Priscilla had already been performing for some time at that point.Who had really influenced who here?Priscilla,more clearly,had been influenced,far greater,by fellow Ohio transplants to the Sunset Strip Sweet Savage,or by an earlier wave of power pop bands such as Starz,Angel,or even The Raspberries.Just one listen to the band's catchy refrains,instantly recognizable choruses,and pop sensibilities will prove this to be true.
Furthermore,to say that no major label was interested in Priscilla is a complete and utter fallacy.Nearly every major label in America,including Atlantic and MCA,had,not only been attracted to,but had offered Priscilla major deals.When three of the band's songs (Wake Up The Neighborhood,Lick N' A Kiss,and Love In Action-all three being all-time,underground glam classics and whose composition any true and honest fan of the glam genre would find to be exactly the ingredient which made this genre of music so endeared in the first place)all obtained top 20 status on national metal radio station Z-Rock,the world was brought to the band's door,as they had attained what seemed to be nearly unachievable."Wake Up The Neighborhood" would not have gone on to sell twenty thousand copies,as the band's first official record release,were it merely excusable trife.It was only due to poor executive decisions on behalf of the band that Priscilla did not garner a major deal at that time.Legend has it that,it was only after Priscilla passed on a record deal with MCA,that the label decided to sign with Pretty Boy Floyd. To call Priscilla nothing more than a glam guerilla gang is,to put it mildly,a grave injustice.They are,moreover,a carefully crafted and calculated group of genius songwriters,and the "High Fashion" disc showcases what are their earliest efforts and can be seen as the beginnings of true greatness(being that the majority of the band's members were only eighteen at the time they wrote and recorded this),much in the same way as the Def Leppard Bludgeon Riffola records shed light onto the birth of a true future rock giant,still in its infancy.
El Mar Kramer's vocals on this disc are nothing short of brilliant for the type of music which the enigmatic frontman caters to here;imagine a cross somewhere between an early Vince Neil or Bret Michaels,or,comparable to the modern day likes of Simon Cruz(Crash Diet)or Lizzy DeVine(Vains Of Jenna).El Mar achieves the perfect sonic pitch,with a drawl of sleaze and brattiness,to deliver the goods for his brand of music.As for "out of notes" guitar solos,did the previous critic here mean to say out of key guitar solos?Master producer/engineer Sean Beavan(at the head of this particular album)would never have allowed that.As for superficial lyrics...isn't that just,exactly what 80's era glam was all about,to a large degree?"Nothin' But A Good Time","Bathroom Wall",or "Round And Round" didn't win any awards for literature in their day.
As far as the remainder of the demo tracks on this disc,three of the four tracks(not five,as mentioned),"High Tonight","High Fashion",and "Fade Away",are instant classics and,to suggest that the poor 4 track quality of the production should hinder any genre fan from giving them a listen,is simply a pure and simple injustice.I,again,refer you to the Def Leppard Bludgeon Riffola tapes,or even the earliest recorded efforts of Guns N' Roses;quality of song is not impeded by quality of rendering. Plain and simple,Priscilla's "High Fashion" disc is a masterpiece of the underground glam movement and should be listened to and heralded by any true fan of the medium.This disc will be a sure-fire hit with anyone that ever dreamed of what it was like to hit the Sunset Strip in its lipstick and 'liner heyday,clad in a full face of make-up and their snakeskin boots,wanting to sing along to its respective soundtrack.